Irrational fear of C++

I have an irrational fear of C++. More than once have I swayed away from useful libraries because all they offered was a C++ API. I have perused several books on C++, but they have done nothing but strengthened the feeling that C++ is too complex to reasonably handle. What to do?

You shouldn't be afraid of C++: it can't hurt you, even though it wants to. You just need to realize these three things.

1. You can get work done in any language, no matter how laughably bad it is.

2. You don't need to be an expert on C++ to do that. You just need to know it well enough that you aren't basically writing C. Most programs won't require template magic (which isn't really all that tricky in the simple case), and some of its "features" like operator overloading are best ignored completely and were just included to throw you off the trail (busy work).

3. You're just as capable of writing decent code, by C++ standards, as the next guy, modulo practice. Nobody gets off easy with C++. You'll perform up to standards.

It might help you to call it Sepples, too.