Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of C++ has been awarded this year's Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award. Congratulations. He really earned it.

Here's a famous quote from him about C++:

"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off."

BTW, if you're interested in how and why he designed C++ the way it is, you should read his book "The Design and Evolution of C++". But be warned, it's not as easy to read as a Dan Brown novel. And you probably need a little background in computer science to really appreciate it. :-)