It's 'hard' largely because the standards bodies and browser makers fail to provide simple and expedient means to do the most basic of operations, making every

It's 'hard' largely because the standards bodies and browser makers fail to provide simple and expedient means to do the most basic of operations, making every little thing a designer wants to do a giant hack. For something so universal ... there should be a very clear and unambiguous function call and at least a rational way to move through the fragmentation molasses.