I, for one, got fed up with C++ long before I ever heard of Python or Ruby. I pretty much quit programming because I got frustrated with the amount of boilerplate code I had to write/the bending over I'd have to do in order to get the simplest ideas fleshed out "idiomatically".
A language is a means of communication, and C++ fails miserably at that.
I pretty much quit programming because I got frustrated with the amount of boilerplate code I had to write/the bending over I'd have to do in order to get the simplest ideas fleshed out "idiomatically".
Don't take this the wrong way, but programming isn't for everyone. For some of us, it's in the blood. It's what I do during the work week and on the weekends for fun too.
Your complaints are valid of course, but take a look at all the systems developed for boilerplate elimination. I have used preprocessor metaprogramming, template metaprogramming, and "external Ruby script" metaprogramming - sometimes all in the same project.
Oh, you misunderstood me - I used to be on just like you, for 10 years or so, before I quit. I must've written tens (hundreds?) of thousands of LOCs in C++, but I was gradually getting sick of it and eventually almost stopped completely.
I still code, but it's not what I do for living, and incidentally, I do enjoy using Python (and also Scheme)!
I really fell in love with the cleanliness and simplicity of Lua for a bit there. Used it to prototype stuff that I'm not rewriting in C++ with great pain. I sure would benefit from having a good debugger though.
A language is a means of communication, and C++ fails miserably at that.