Being cross-platform

Too often developers sing the praises of cross-platform code. I claim that striving to be cross-platform is not always that good.

Platform independence is an abstraction. As any abstraction it is good -- when it solves real problem. But it could as well be premature, and contribute nothing but complexity and inconvenience both for the code clients and the implementers.

Working with just one platform, you get the benefits of using native platform tools; compiling your code with native build system; using just one compiler and one standard library; using just one set of system primitives; and all that without being forced to play around infinite quirks of each individual component.

If you cannot afford luxury of development just on one platform, strive at least to work with as small subset as possible, and to as close platforms as makes sense. For example, developing network server for Linux and FreeBSD can be OK (at least you have POSIX and pretty much same compiler), but adding Windows to the box is not so fun. The same way, developing desktop game on different Windows versions makes sense, but striving to platform independence only because "one day we may want to run it on Mac" would likely add no value but definitely will increase your budget/schedule.

After all, you should stop somewhere. Like, "this application is only going to work on desktops", or "this will be a library to help with mobile development". My point is that the earlier you stop the better. The less specific and more portable standard you comply to, the less useful primitives you get. At the end you'll be left without threads and directories. Sometimes there is a reason for that.

As with any abstraction, don't try to build this one "just in case": 1) you aren't going need it: instead do on demand; 2) you will do it wrong: instead let it grow organically.

Having said that, it doesn't mean that platform-dependent primitives should proliferate through all your code. On the contrary, your higher level code should not probably depend on platform-specific low-level details. But hey, it has a little to do with "cross-platform" stuff, it is just how reasonable abstractions are built!

Of course, sometimes you can get abstraction from platform for free -- for example, when you already have good cross-platform library or tool that does what you just need. In this case there is no reason not to make use of it. Remember, platform independence is not bad on itself, but only when it implies costs that otherwise could be avoided.