Author here, I do prefer a language like Rust that makes all of this automatic but that isn't always an option. There are other parts of Rust that can be hard as well.

I wrote this article for a few friends who have recently started working with an existing, large C++ code base. Some industries like the video game industry have also stuck to C++ (they have their reasons).

A good programmer can work within the given constraints to make a useful program — sometimes, one of those constraints is the choice of language.