(a) Smart pointers + static analysis + sanitizers make C++ pretty usable
(b) C++ usability requires brittle, half-baked add-ons such as smart pointers and non-deterministic/heuristic/unreliable/NP-hard development tools such as static analysis + sanitizers.
OK. I think some people mistook me as making a value judgement about C++. This is not true, I am merely saying I have doubts that Rust has had a serious impact on C++ design (yet; if it does it will start showing up soon, though.) If you don't believe me please carefully reread my comments; I really wasn't trying to say anything overall good or bad about C++, just observation about trajectory.
My personal opinions on C++ are not very positive, but it's a language I literally grew with. My experience is that C++ code very gradually became more stable and less buggy. The thing is, some of that is just improved discipline, some of it is static analysis, etc. But a lot of it, is genuinely C++0x/C++11 and features that built on top of this.
So the idea that Rust showed up and suddenly C++ cared about safety? I don't really see it. I think C++ developers started caring about safety and then Rust showed up because of that.
P.S.: While the borrow checker and ownership semantics is really cool, I think a programming language's ecosystem and the 'best practices' it lends itself well to have a greater impact that people completely miss. Rust, Go, Zig are all clearly trying to foster a culture of writing more correct and complete programs. Error handling doesn't just feel like a couple control flow mechanisms you can use, but a responsibility that you have. Modern C++ is getting better probably more because of this than any committee; although I really wish the Expected type would've gone somewhere, since I feel Rust's `Result<...>` type and Go's multiple-return with `error` are being proven right as ways to handle errors robustly even with their caveats. (I've heard Zig's error handling is really cool too, but I haven't had a chance to write a serious Zig program. I'll get to it soon.)
