MIT's
Technology Review posted the recent interview of Bjarne Stroustrup at
The Problem with Programming and
More Trouble with Programming.
One thing I like about C++ is that "you don't need to pay for what you
don't need". For programs with high value on efficiency, such design
philosophy is often necessary. IMHO, C++ is not responsible for many criticism people claim. So often have I seen people misuse C++ and cause lots of trouble in the software, but I would rather believe that this is because the programmers who write those code are undertrained. Some might say that it's because C++ is too difficult to learn, yet I have not found any other language that is as powerful as C++ while much easier to learn. Everything comes with a price, anyway. I once read about something, by an experienced C++ programmer, in which he said C++ is "difficult to learn but easy to use". I have started to feel the same way.
There is one sentence I would like to quote from Bjarne's interview: "Expressing dislike of something you don't know is usually known as prejudice."