Alternatives to C/C++

Instead of sticking with C/C++ for performance consider:
1.Free Pascal -Small memory use,very fast, easy debug
2.OCaml - medium memory use, fast,very terse, functional and secure.
3.FreeBasic - very fast,easy to use, low memory use, supports QBasic code as dialect. Other Basics to consider: PureBasic/Gambas/PowerBASIC
4.Digital Mars D- fast, easy to write and debug, large library, transition from C/C++ much easier.Garbage collection can be turned off.

People who still program in Pascal and use FreePascal are like conspiracy theorists. No matter how much evidence you show them to the contrary, they'll continue to stick to their beliefs, and in fact will do so more fiercely.

It's best to leave them to their toy language.