> Perhaps you are in a position to make such choices, but it's not a realistic option for most developers most of the time. You're implying a context that was

> Perhaps you are in a position to make such choices, but it's not a realistic option for most developers most of the time. You're implying a context that was not really part of my post or the post I was replying to. I didn't get the feeling that the OP was frantically trying to catch up on C++ because their workplace demands it. Rather, they seem to be a person trying to gauge what languages they should pursue in addition or instead of C++, of their own volition. > Not everyone is self employed and working alone. I'm not asserting otherwise. > So my advice to a young developer would be to learn all of C++ or steer clear of it altogether. Learning C++ well enough to not be dangerous is a major undertaking. My advice would be: it depends on what you're going to do with it. What kind of projects are you involved in? Are you programming for yourself or in a team? If you're in a team, these decisions all get made for you. If you're programming for yourself, it may not be a problem to "be dangerous" while you're learning. It's also worth considering what "learn all of C++" means. In my post, I didn't mean to imply that people should refuse knowledge of features. What I meant to say is, they should make informed decisions about the features they'll use. All of which applies of course only, as you so clearly stated, to people who actually have control over their usage of the language.