Hacker News Reader

C++ was complex already 15 years ago (template metaprogramming, anyone?).

Can't imagine what it must be nowadays.

It's a very complex language, but I also find little reason in using any of its more niche features; however, I essentially just write C with RAII and templates when it comes to C++, so I'm probably abnormal.

For instance, I can now avoid SFINAE in C++20 and beyond, which was always the ugliest part of C++ templates to me. C++20 concepts simplified most of my metaprogramming needs.

In my experience, many SFINAE use cases have already been replaced by C++17's constexpr-if. Concepts are just the nail in the coffin :)

Saying that it has become easier or less ugly is quite the counter point, though.

Reading boost libraries was like reading brainfuck. In fact most of std lib source felt that way too. I never reflected on this since I stopped doing C++ 15 years ago - but yeah I have not worked with a language that's worse to read since. Maybe macro heavy lisp ?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com