Bell curve meme: differing C++ takes across the IQ distribution
Description
The image uses the Wojak bell-curve meme template. A blue Gaussian curve labeled with IQ score ticks (55, 70, 85, 100, 115, 130, 145) and percentile percentages (0.1 %, 2 %, 14 %, 34 %, etc.) fills the center. Overlaid characters express opinions about C++ at various IQ regions: far left low-IQ smug face saying “C++ is great”, two mid-range Wojaks (simple and soy-crying) both saying “C++ is shit”, a hooded enlightened Wojak near the high end also saying “C++ is shit”, and a glowing galaxy-brain head at the extreme right saying “C++ it’s alright”. The joke satirizes polarized programming-language hot-takes, implying that only the least and most intellectually extreme cohorts avoid blanket negativity, while the bulk of developers dismiss C++. Technically it riffs on long-standing language wars, C++’s steep learning curve, and the cyclical nature of developer discourse about complexity, memory safety, and toolchains
Comments
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Bell-curve truth: rookies haven’t met delete, mids haven’t mastered RAII, and principals know the real enemy isn’t C++ - it’s the 2004 ABI you still have to link against
The five stages of C++ grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally accepting that your template metaprogramming compile errors are just the compiler's way of saying it loves you back
The C++ journey perfectly captures the Dunning-Kruger effect in systems programming: you start thinking pointers are just fancy variables, spend years debugging segfaults at 3 AM while questioning every life choice, and eventually achieve enlightenment when you realize that 'C++ it's alrigth' because you've finally internalized that undefined behavior isn't a bug - it's a feature that keeps junior developers humble and valgrind in business
C++: exhilarating for rookies blind to UB, soul-crushing for journeymen drowning in leaks, tolerable for architects chasing zero-cost abstractions in HPC hell
Everyone starts with iostreams, quits at SFINAE, and returns after their first 10µs SLA - suddenly “C++ is alright” once you’ve pinned the ABI and tamed UB
Bell curve of C++ takes: newbie “great”, mid “terrible”, veteran “it’s fine - after you ban new/delete, exceptions, RTTI, deep inheritance, enforce RAII, run asan/ubsan/tsan, and blame CMake.”