Tom [Cargil]s suggestion with a further idea: Propsers of new [C++] features should be required to donate a kidney. That would - Jim [Waldo] pointed out - make people think hard before proposing, and even people without any sense would propose at most two extensions.

I would encourage nonproprietary standards for tools and libraries.

I assume that a sufficiently skilled will be able to do anything not explicitly forbidden by the hardware.

And no, I'm not a walking C++ dictionary. I do not keep every technical detail in my head at all times. If I did that, I would be a much poorer programmer. I do keep the main points straight in my head most of the time, and I do know where to find the details when I need them.

The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.

C++ is my favorite garbage collected language because it generates so little garbage

C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off.