I much prefer having separate operators for namespace/module qualification and member access. These things seem like they have something in common, but in practice, IMO, the languages that separate them are much cleaner.

Whether :: specifically is the best choice of such an operator is another question. But there aren't exactly many options left, and this one is firmly established by now, even outside of C++.

PHP was changed last minute to use \ which in my opinion is a way worse choice.

That was a horrible choice if only because \ is already well-established for escape sequences (including in PHP itself).

Not the worst piece of C++ syntax by various orders of magnitude.

I haven't yet... but after I got a bug report for polluting namespaces with my library, I uglified my code like a good citizen.

It is as if we don't learn! Same thing in Rust. :: is adds so much visual noise.

Julia is the only modern language with beautiful syntax. I think we should pay more attention to the aesthetics of a language just like we do with spoken languages. Certain languages just sound beautiful - Japanese and French.

C++ is old but Rust could have paid more attention to subjective aspects of a language.

> Certain languages just sound beautiful - Japanese and French

You've managed to pick the two languages whose sound irritates me the most, which I think illustrates the fragility of this kind of thinking perfectly.