> It's like writing C code that has to run on N different, immature, and mostly quirky compilers all with their own different subset of features, where N is com

> It's like writing C code that has to run on N different, immature, and mostly quirky compilers all with their own different subset of features, where N is completely unknown to you -- in fact N will grow over time after you release your application. In other words, it's like writing C code :-) (At least, if you require fancy features such as inline assembly, threads, string literals longer than 509 characters, 64-bit integers, ...)