"Blame" is too strong of a word, but the basic idea is that C++ provides a lot of power that PHP doesn't provide, and the price for that power is complexity. So

"Blame" is too strong of a word, but the basic idea is that C++ provides a lot of power that PHP doesn't provide, and the price for that power is complexity. So while both languages are full of dark little corners waiting to kill you, C++'s dark little corners are there because really smart people couldn't figure out how to avoid them in all cases while still keeping the mandated design requirements, and PHP's dark little corners appear to be there because no one bothered to think anything through before banging out an interpreter. This isn't to say C++ is the best it could be. There are plenty of outright mistakes. But on the whole, C++ is weird and complicated because it had to be, at least to a much greater degree than PHP.