Thinking that C++ "optimizes to better code" or that compiling to faster bigger code is even the right thing to do is the mark of an app developer. This is not

Thinking that C++ "optimizes to better code" or that compiling to faster bigger code is even the right thing to do is the mark of an app developer. This is not relevant to system programming. It's actually anti-relevant, as your #1 job is to be small and stay out of the way of the app code. And your #0 job is to not crash or have security holes.