Ken Thompson (a Go lead) has held hostility towards C++ that is well-known and of long standing. (To wit, at the ACM Turing Centennial last year: 'I'm not sure

Ken Thompson (a Go lead) has held hostility towards C++ that is well-known and of long standing. (To wit, at the ACM Turing Centennial last year: 'I'm not sure what OO is supposed to look like, but I do know for sure it's not anything like C++.' (not verbatim, but accurate in the sentiment he expressed.)) As note below, Go was indeed designed to address perceived shortcomings of C++, among other goals.