Dear C++,

Hi.  It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?  How’ve you been?  Listen, can we talk?

You’re probably wondering what I’ve been up to all these years.  I’m just going to be honest and up front with you.  I’ve been seeing other languages.  Higher level languages.

That probably would have been better for me back then, back when we first met.  I was young, naïve, and inexperienced.  Despite how flexible and powerful you are, what I really needed were languages that were capable of doing things for themselves.  Things like cleaning up after themselves.  I didn’t want to have to be in so much control.  I didn’t want to have to explicitly tell you how to do everything.

Perhaps I was expecting too much of you.  Perhaps I wasn’t expecting enough of myself.

What I was really looking for was a language that could do some things on its own without my constant supervision.  Since our time together, I’ve found some.  Several actually, and we’ve really done well together.  Don’t get me wrong.  You’ll always have a special place in my heart because you were my first.  But, I’ve been happy with my newer partners.  More productive.

But now, here we are.  Together again.  Despite our past, I really think we can be good together now.  I’m older, more mature, and more experienced.  My expectations and preconceived notions have changed dramatically from what they were when I was just beginning.  I think I understand you and your needs better than I did back then.  I think I understand myself better as well.

So, C++, what do you say.  Can we give this another go?