but that kind of thing is not always portable between systems. Because the value must be a reference to a literal in source, afaik that would require some kind of source filter to get portability.

You lost me there. Can you give an example of this construct not being portable? I actually prefer this style of constants, so if there is a reason I should avoid it, I'd very much like to understand it.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";