Here's a simple question that I haven't seen bandied about, but can't say I review this board much, so I apologize if I am in error on that.
What does the phrase, cross platform portability, mean? Does it mean if I compile a program using only standard C++ it will run on Windows and Apple and Unix platforms or it will compile on all three platforms? I mean if I write a program with non-standard code and the exe (or whatever) file runs on all three platforms, does it really matter if it compiles on all three platforms or not?
Maybe the answer is---depends. If you are a hobbyist (like me) and don't care about code maintenance issues, or if you don't care about compatability with other platforms, then it's probably not a big deal. But if you are a professional programmer and code maintenance is an issue or if you are looking for the broadest possible market for your product, then portability is a potentially big issue.