Counterpoint to the C++ fragment in "Error handling" section:

  void foo()
  {
    Matrix *a = new Matrix(1000, 1000);
    Matrix *b = new Matrix(1000, 1000);
    
    delete b;
    delete a;
  }

Pretending exceptions solve error handling gets you a big fat zero. Look at boost: despite being written by C++ experts and held up as an excellent library (which it is!), it contains exception-unsafe portions. Why? Total exception safety is just as hard as the original error handling problem.