That same write call can exist in C++ too, with exactly the same consequences. Everything ugly in C can be done in C++, but C++ lets you be so much uglier.

That same write call can exist in C++ too, with exactly the same consequences. Everything ugly in C can be done in C++, but C++ lets you be so much uglier. int i = 42; foo->bar(i); In C, we can tell that foo is either a "struct S* foo" or "union U* foo" which has a member "X (*bar)(Y)". Type X is unknown from this context, but Y is some type compatible with int. We will call the function which bar points to with a single value 42. The value of i will be unchanged. In C++, it could be the same. Or foo could be not a pointer at all, but some object with "operator->". bar() might take its first parameter by reference and end up changing i. bar() might have additional parameters with default values. bar might not even be a function, but some object with "operator()". etc. etc. Most of the code I write is C++, so I'm not against it -- but I definitely understand the point that C requires less context.