C++ suffers from too many options/features. There are too many programming paradigms and styles one can use so it may get messy if one is not adherent to a personal style. On the other hand, you might want to check out the STL which is the most beautiful example of generic programming i know (and also the hardest to debug).

I don't know about IDEs, does vim count?

Learning COBOL can only guarantee you a job as a specimen in the programming museum nowadays.