You can just use features of C++ which improve the ergonomics of C; it's not necessary to buy into modern C++ wholesale. If you want to write a C program but with generic container types, just use the features of C++ which facilitate that.

> And the ergonomics of modern C++ look absolutely horrid compared to actual modern languages.

True, but if you want to write "C as it is, with some niceties", then you're not talking about modern languages.

How is it a massive cognitive load? Use clang libraries and error out if there are any operator declarations, for instance.

"How is it a massive cognitive load? Just write a bunch of tooling to enforce your rules!"

It's simpler than the tutorial example for python-clang. It's strictly less work than a responsible unit test suite, and there's not much downside to getting some details wrong on this particular application.

>tutorial example for python-clang

Do you have a link? Your comment is the highest Google result for that quote.

I disagree heavily with that. Templates, classes, move semantics and destructors make for very tight and elegant programs I have found. No inheritance.