[jgg]

This whole thing implicitly assumes there's some acceptable "balance" you're making when you compare abstraction power and performance. Ignoring the fact that "choosing speed" or "choosing abstraction" is a bit of a false dichotomy, that's okay. But according to this page, C++ is the perfect harmony between these two areas. I'm calling bullshit on how arbitrary that is.

[chancho]

WTF are you on about? The page doesn't say any of that. They acknowledge that C++ is not perfect but give specific reasons why it's a good fit for this domain: performance, access to cutting edge tech (e.g. GPUs, iPhone, iPad) and access to native OS facilities. The only other language that fits that description is C, and you're damn right that "speed" and "abstraction" do not sum to zero: C++ is C with more abstractive power.