I think it's more about the feature surface. C++ is a gigantic language while C is fairly limited. I actually like C++ when I'm the only one writing it, but my experience has always been that for complex use cases (large) c++ code bases tend to always evolve to a mess of complexity, even with expert programmers.

But yeah, smart pointers alone help a lot with writing tidy c++...

There was a time that C++ was considered a gigantic language. Just as there was a time that Common Lisp was considered so large that it collapsed under its own weight.

Many languages, including "simple" Java, are about as large as C++ right now ( https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/GoingNative/GoingNative-201... , around the one-hour and fifteen minute mark). To be honest, one thing that makes working in C++ relatively hard is the fact that C++'s standard library is significantly smaller than the competition. You have to do more yourself.

There is a difference between language complexity and library complexity. The Java language is very simple, but the Java standard libraries are a collosal, complex system.

C++ the language is extremely complex and riddled with pitfalls and minefields. Just try to pin down the formal definition of such a widely-used term as "rvalue". OTOH I find the C++ standard library to be reasonably straightforward and well-designed. The STL in particular is brilliant.

Brainfuck has a limited surface. That doesn't mean it isn't hard or error-prone.

But for a totally different reason. C++ is hard (to me, anyway) because it's gigantic and people tend to make it into a mess. BF is hard because it's intentionally obtuse.