I've been programming mostly in C++ for ten years. There has been a time when I was proud of being knowledgeable about its many intricacies. Nowadays, I don't do that anymore.

I recommend you avoid trying to master C++: it's a gigantic waste of your time, of your brains and of your productivity. Lots of useless complexity. Just like learning Perl is (been there, done that, too).

OTOH, C is a language worth learning well.