[andresmanz]

> No one would (should!) ever consider writing a webservice in C++

Depends on what kind of web services you're talking about. C++ is widely spread in game development. It's nice to have the client and server code in the same language, so in game development, C++ web services (including multiplayer servers, if you count that as a web service) are not too unusual.

Two years ago, I even had a customer who wanted me to create a C++ backend for a large website. That was a surprise, of course. But it was fun, it's safe, and it works. You can easily test for safety, and the security logic stuff is just what you have in any other language.

[viraptor]

> You can easily test for safety

How do you define easily? Afaik, state of art is still: static analysis, maximum pedantic level from the compiler, 100% coverage, lots of fuzzing, lots of logic testing... and it still doesn't stop you from getting owned via one of the libraries you include (JSON, http parsing, ...).

Is that not the case? It seems far from easy, if you compare to (for example) python framework where almost all of the code is pure-python.

Edit: I meant practical state of art. Sure, you can prove your webapp secure if you have enough time. But nobody would seriously do that.

[vezzy-fnord]

Pretty sure Gmail's backend is C++, along with many other Google web services.

[aikah]

> Pretty sure Gmail's backend is C++,

Define "backend". Pretty sure the core business logic of Gmail is written with tons of Java. C++ is used for generic "infrastructure" software, not for writing Gmail's business rules.