C++ is a pretty easy target to pick on, though. I'm convinced that it is pure machismo that makes anybody use it, rather than a desire for productivity.

Of note on pg 9 is the "resolution time" graph. Look at the time to fix "missing right parentheses". While the median time to fix this C++ error is about 6 or 7 minutes, about 25% of the time it takes so long that the (75 percentile) edge of the box is off the chart - over 50 minutes. (disclaimer - it doesn't say how often this error happens)

What kind of masochist writes such a giant run-on expression that it takes an hour to figure out where to match up the parentheses??? (and doesn't know how to use the parentheses matcher in the editor)

Perhaps there is an untold story for that error, or perhaps C++ just attracts a lot of people who like a challenge.

...

Turbo Pascal (5.5 and above) > C++ as well, but Java was free, and ran on unix.