"Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code"
About this Quote
The specific intent is pragmatic. Source-code analysis tools (static analyzers, linters, formal verification, sanitizers, code-indexing and refactoring systems) are the counterweight to C++'s sharp edges: undefined behavior, template metaprogramming, macro abuse, subtle lifetime and concurrency bugs. Stroustrup isn’t fantasizing about a new paradigm; he’s asking for better instruments to see what we already have.
The subtext is a kind of restrained defensiveness. C++ gets blamed for complexity, but Stroustrup hints that the real failure is often ecosystem-level: if your language can express low-level reality, you need equally serious machinery to audit it. "Personally" reads like a soft hedge against the tribalism of language wars, but it also signals something more pointed: even he, the father of the thing, wants more help.
Context matters: this is the voice of a scientist-engineer who has watched C++ evolve from a tool for systems programming into infrastructure for finance, games, browsers, and embedded devices. As the stakes rise, "better tools" becomes less a developer convenience than a safety requirement. The understatement is the message: the future of C++ isn’t just new features, it’s better accountability.
Quote Details
| Topic | Coding & Programming |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Stroustrup, Bjarne. (2026, January 17). Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/personally-i-look-forward-to-better-tools-for-40904/
Chicago Style
Stroustrup, Bjarne. "Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/personally-i-look-forward-to-better-tools-for-40904/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Personally, I look forward to better tools for analyzing C++ source code." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/personally-i-look-forward-to-better-tools-for-40904/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




