Thanks for taking the time to respond. I agree that c++ does carry with it an initial “oh wow this is a lot” factor. However, having learned c++ as my first language (and also having been a TA for intro c++ courses), I have seen that it is something that even non-technical people can learn if it is taught correctly.
The key, in my opinion is keeping things working at as high a level as possible until the syntax is properly learned. Back when I was in an intro class, for example, we learned vectors before we learned arrays. This allowed us to learn syntax and list processing without worrying about dynamic memory allocation or keeping a separate array size count.

First, thanks for reading the RegularGeek blog. Regarding C++, I have always had the problem that it is generally overwhelming or a new developer. Eventually, yes C/C++ should be learned because of the memory mgmt features and just the need to learn procedural programming. Way back when I was a TA for an intro to C/C++ course, I focused on ensuring that people would stay in programming. Trying to keep people moving in that class is very difficult due to pointer manipulation and memory mgmt. I just wish there was an easier way.