Interestingly this is in stark contrast to the recent article about learning C++ in 2018 and being perfectly happy with it. I think part of this is because C++ is such a vast language with a huge and diverse ecosystem that it's kind of like saying you should stay out of Africa because it's so dangerous, when it's such a huge place and many parts of it are relative safe. Maybe the two authors experienced different "parts" of C++ and are referring to that subsection only.