I mean it when I say look into the topics in depth. Lambdas are done in a more machine code efficient way than anything else I have seen. It is basically just syntax for a functor, whose calls can be inlined right inside the callee.

Stl is similarly elegant from the narrow perspective of inlining, and getting rid of indirection that people tend to write when doing abstract data types in C. It took me a long time of hating C++ and preferring C before I was willing to see this. I still kind of prefer C but these days I am much more willing to concede that there are strengths in C++ that you can't easily match with equivalent C code.

Even though I don't program for a living, I like experimenting with code, especially when tasked to build languages I haven't tried. I will look into these aspects of C++ - learning is a lifelong process :-)

> As a hacker rather than programmer, I am pretty much stuck on the C train, so any distaste for C++ is reactionary and not borne of actual programming experience

Please; "hacker" does not mean "inexperienced amateur", as you seem to imply it means here. The typical meaning is close to the opposite:

http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/H/hacker.html

As to C++, it has undeniable positives as well as undeniable negatives (according to plenty of experienced professionals).

I wasn't implying that meaning in the slightest. Just establishing that I am not a trained programmer nor a computer scientist. Poorly composed turn of phrase, I guess.

And yet when I correct your terminology with a cited reference, I collect a couple of downvotes.

This is why it is unpleasant to correct objective errors on the internet.

That's not right. In fact, I learned a great deal from this exchange, did some reading and referenced more folks who feel the same as you. Up vote from me - I appreciate it.

Glad you learned, and thank you.

My experience with downvotes here is that all sorts of rational thought is unpopular with HN readers. They want you to be young, clueless, passive-aggressive and false-modest like them, and they are threatened when you are not displaying these traits. Take the downvotes as a badge of honor and don't get too caught up.