fully virtual (C++'s being mixed is a blessing and a curse), portable (C/C++ depends on architecture details) high performance compared to other high level lang

fully virtual (C++'s being mixed is a blessing and a curse), portable (C/C++ depends on architecture details) high performance compared to other high level languages - with less of C++'s complexity arising from "you don't pay for what you don't use", standard packaging (JARs, WARs or maven-like stuff) + standard compiler, relatively standard options for building, a broad set of largely compatible application servers. It's the fastest and most mature platform for its level of complexity around (namely, less than C++), C# is a close and viable second and outshines it in some ways - and can be thought of as a descendant in some ways, if you squint a little bit (of Microsoft Java).