> I agree on C++ being the worst of both worlds for many people. You get abstraction, but also an enormous semantic surface area and footguns everywhere.

Not only that, but who even knows C++? It keeps changing. Every few years "standard practice" is completely different. Such a waste of energy.

> Java is interesting because the core language is indeed small and boring in a good way, much closer to C than people admit.

I know. I used to be a Java hater, but then I learned it and it's alright... except the whole no-unsigned-integers thing. That still bothers me but it's just aesthetic really.