Given that it took C++ a similar amount of time to invent the string specific string_view I don't think it's as simple as you're making it out. ReadOnlySpan is

Given that it took C++ a similar amount of time to invent the string specific string_view I don't think it's as simple as you're making it out. ReadOnlySpan is so powerful because it can be used generically and has implicit conversions that allow you to improve the speed of existing methods without breaking backwards compatibility. It's well designed and that takes thought and time.