> C is about giving you maximal control over memory, with a very thin layer of abstraction over the hardware. Which suggests an avenue I haven't seen anyone ta

> C is about giving you maximal control over memory, with a very thin layer of abstraction over the hardware. Which suggests an avenue I haven't seen anyone take yet: Pick a subset of features common to sane hardware and write a language which gives access to those features in a way which is reasonably portable and as explicit as C. Pick a spot midway between a macro assembler and a language with a complicated optimizer and give as much access to the hardware as possible while not wedding yourself to a single ISA. Make cross-compilation a first-class feature using a module system, and error out if the programmer tries to use SIMD intrinsics when compiling for an MSP430 or something.