Hot off the Channel 9 video press from last week's Lang.NEXT conference:

Lang.NEXT Keynote: What – if anything – have we learned from C++?

by Bjarne Stroustrup

What is the essence of C++? Why did it succeed despite its well-understood flaws? What lessons -- if any -- can be applied to newer languages?

Themes: Social and technical factors. Resource management. Generic programming. The importance of being inefficient. The importance of syntax. How (not) to specify a language. Standardization and compatibility. And no, I don't plan to condemn C++ -- it is still the best language around for a lot of things, and getting better. It just isn't anywhere near perfect (even of its kind) or the best at everything -- and was never claimed to be.