""If you want to design something better than C++, you need to understand why so many people use C++." No, you don't. You just need to design something better t

""If you want to design something better than C++, you need to understand why so many people use C++." No, you don't. You just need to design something better than C++." And how do you define "better than C++"? C++ didn't get to be as popular as it is for nothing. It got to be as popular as it is because it is a very good tool for solving certain classes of problems. If you don't understand why people still choose C++ for new projects, you're going to have a tough time building something that will change those decisions. And if you think people only choose C++ for new projects because they're idiots, frankly, you're the idiot. "Everybody is an idiot" is a much less likely hypothesis than "I'm missing something". Before you throw out a popular tool whose appeal you don't understand, you would be well advised to spend some time comprehensively falsifying "I'm missing something". Hence, "If you want to replace X, you need to understand why X is popular."