Working with pointers in C or C++ is a decidedly lower level construct that Lisp. Not to make any sort of value judgement between the two languages - but with a

Working with pointers in C or C++ is a decidedly lower level construct that Lisp. Not to make any sort of value judgement between the two languages - but with a c pointer, you are accessing a very specific point in memory. If you're pointing to the first element of an array, add one to that pointer, you're now accessing the second element of that array. This close to the metal mindset is what makes C/C++ valuable for learning how code compiles to assembly, and understanding _how_ your program is executed.