You missed the point. The post I replied to implied that C/C++ people shouldn't have to worry about this and that they should not take account of it. My point

You missed the point. The post I replied to implied that C/C++ people shouldn't have to worry about this and that they should not take account of it. My point was that C/C++ is used in privileged locations (i.e. kernel & drivers) and (although spectre itself is a user-mode exploit) as such it is perfectly within its domain to be concerned about such things. Since it is impractical for hardware to be changed, the only pragmatic solution is to either a) live with it b) have software do its best to reduce the likelihood of you being bitten. Practically, that means s/w mods. Test-wise; I can imagine a new class of static-analysis tools that may be able indicate worrisome areas for known hardware exploits. None that I've heard of so far tackle these type of issues.