I think this "friction" is really important to understand. For code of this sort, usually you figure out what assembly you want produced, and then you figure

I think this "friction" is really important to understand. For code of this sort, usually you figure out what assembly you want produced, and then you figure out the intrinsics necessary to produce this. In your mind, there is a clear one-to-one correspondence between the what you write and the assembly you want generated, but too frequently the compiler may have other ideas. It constantly feels like your are fighting the compiler's attempts to subvert you. Personally, I think this best current solution is writing blocks or entire functions in assembly, but admittedly the tools for this aren't great.