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"C++ is a big language. The size of its definition is very similar to those of C# and Java." I can't speak with authority to C#, but C++ is a massively larger

• magila 12y ago
  This is one thing I wish C++ advocates would stop bringing up. While it's technically true that the page count of the C++ spec is comparable to that of C# and Java, not all pages are created equal. The C++ spec is incredibly dense, it's written in a very terse style and often packs as much information into a single sentence as other specs spend an entire paragraph on. Also, the Java spec in particular is typeset with much larger margins, a larger font, and generally more vertical white space than the C++ spec making it seem relatively bigger than it really is.
  • duaneb 12y ago
    Not to mention, the spec of Java has the benefit of being built on very firm semantics, regardless of how well they were designed. C++ has no such solid footing on which to stand.
• pjmlp 12y ago
  I think the biggest problem is that many idioms in C++ can only be understood by those of us that embraced the language since the C++ARM days and understand the design decisions to built the language on top of the C toolchain. C++11 and C++17 might be quite a pleasure to use when a small team controls all the code, unfortunately most of the real world applications are done in pre-C++98 style. And then, you still need to learn about each libraries use which version of the standard. This is why there are so many fundamental types like string duplicated everywhere. We had to rely on third party libraries like Tools.h++ for consistency across compilers and OSs, before the majority reached C++98 compliance.