Bjarne Stroustrup: Simplification is the Key to Reliability and Efficiency in Code

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Note: I select clips with insights from these much longer conversation with the hope of helping make these ideas more accessible and discoverable. Ultimately, this podcast is a small side hobby for me with the goal of sharing and discussing ideas. I did a poll and 92% of people either liked or loved the posting of daily clips, 2% were indifferent, and 6% hated it, some suggesting that I post them on a separate YouTube channel. I hear the 6% and partially agree, so am torn about the whole thing. I tried creating a separate clips channel but the YouTube algorithm makes it very difficult for that channel to grow. So for a little while, I'll keep posting clips on this channel. I ask for your patience and to see these clips as supporting the dissemination of knowledge contained in nuanced discussion. If you enjoy it, consider subscribing, sharing, and commenting.

Bjarne Stroustrup is the creator of C++, a programming language that after 34 years is still one of the most popular and powerful languages in the world. Its focus on fast, stable, robust code underlies many of the biggest systems in the world that we have come to rely on as a society. If you're watching this on YouTube, many of the critical back-end component of YouTube are written in C++. Same goes for Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, most Microsoft applications, Adobe applications, most database systems, and most physical systems that operate in the real-world like cars, robots, rockets that launch us into space and one day will land us on Mars.

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[lexfridman]

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[erikprantare]

Many people in the comments seem to misunderstand what is being said. C++ is complicated to allow you to write simple code. While the C language is simpler, this simplicity offloads the complexity onto the actual code being written. What Bjarne talks about is giving the programmer the /ability/ to write simpler code. And that ability is dependent on complicated language features.

[DevlogBill]

Watching this video made me realize how brilliant this man is. He gave a perspective on how C++ is meant to be used, very insightful.

[TNothingFree]

Bjarne is remarkable and anyone who wants to be better should start listening to his ideas.
I don't agree with everything but his experience backs up lots of basic concepts such as simplicitly.

[ccgb]

5:27++ Goosebumps! So true omg :/ Loved this interview! Thank you Lex!!

[DGC-km]

Brake pedals on regular passenger cars are actually mechanically connected to the hydraulic braking system, so he's just wrong to say the only connection is to the car's ECU. It's correct to say of the accelerator pedal on modern cars, but not the brake pedal.

For braking, the ECU plays a major role in ABS modulation and nowadays even the newer electronic parking brakes. But not the simple hydraulic pressure transferred from the brake pedals to the calipers on disc brakes or the wheel cylinders on drum brakes.

[matpoliquin]

That's what I love about the Quake 3 and Doom 3 source code, simplicity, makes coding much more enjoyable as well

[laughingvampire]

great saying from the author of one of the most complicated programming languages ever made, and one of the languages that least features has to avoid any system from crashing. This is another man responsible for trillions of dollars of money lost.

Any program in Erlang is far more stable than its equivalent in C++ and I talk about Erlang because Erlang actually gives you tools for fault tolerance and those tools are enough redundancy to achieve the 9 nines.

[DrZbo]

Lex please ask all these guys who created these super fast low/mid level languages what they think about python and its advantages and disadvantages! I actually think Bjarne would be a fan of it in many uses for its reliance on systems that are already cheap, secure, stable.

[abhishekranjan]

I think he was born with that hairstyle.

[EFChartley]

Time for the next generation of computer pioneers to come through! 🇺🇸 Hats off to Bjarne though

[jflow]

OOD/OOP is the only way to go for a complex system. Boeing, take note.

[tonyktng]

Boeing 737 MAX engineers should view this over and over again

[MisterFanwank]

If simplicity is the key to reliability and efficiency, then why is C++ such a complicated disaster?

[johnwick]

Says the guy who made the most complex programming language ever.

[mavhunter]

I know he's not talking about simplicity... -_-

[mavhunter]

"Simplicity" huh? This is rich coming from the guy who created C++...