[jedbrown]

The matrix example is a particularly flattering one for C++, since a good matrix library in C++ will provide syntax that is quite close to the notation that one would use on paper for matrices.

And it either (a) creates and destroys many intermediate structures or (b) templates everything by exposing the entire implementation to the user, resulting in slow compilation time and error messages that the domain expert couldn't hope to decipher.

[mattgreenrocks]

It's almost as if everything has tradeoffs, and engineers have to make them consciously!

Optimize when necessary. Until then, no need to mutilate expressiveness if the language allows it.

[rmcclellan]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of C++, really. That said, (a) is mostly solved in 11 with rvalue references, isn't it?