One presumes the reader is aware of the current crisis in American software development that is panicking over C++ and ushering people toward "safe" languages like Rust that--to me--look like Spivey's Z-notation dressed up with (guess what) C++.

I blame the crisis on two men, both longtime classmates: Prof. Mark Allen Weiss (FIU) and Hyman Rosen (Google, Bloomberg, etc.). Both pushed C++ not because it was a good solution for the average programmer, but because it was a pleasingly elegant, mathematically tricky playground for the elite titan who lies awake at night worrying about obscure edge cases.

I seem to recall a push toward Java as an alternative to C++, also originating from Dr. Weiss. Another disaster: Java implements a woefully inconsistent model (why can't I say 4.increment(), e.g.?). The answer--"oh, that would be a performance problem"--points to poor, inconsistent, ill-thought-out design.

These guys may be strong computer scientists, but as engineers, they're as junior as they come. And that's ironic: both Mark and Hymie hold B.E.E. degrees, summa cum laude.

I'm reminded of what Joe Levy told me when I was a freshman: his four-phase model of computer use: 1 = fear, 2 = acceptance, 3 = fascinating toy, 4 = mature tool. It is UNBELIEVABLE that married men in their sixties are still stuck in phase 3.