&gt; <i>probably the first language to seriously compete with C++</i><p>How about Object Pascal? I think Object Pascal is a better C++ than C++. It&#x27;s too bad it isn&#x27;t more widely used. Here are a couple of interesting perspectives from people who have done some recent development with Object Pascal:<p>1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=11005203" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=11005203</a> (see also <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;whatwg&#x2F;wattsi" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;whatwg&#x2F;wattsi</a>)<p>2. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ziotom78.blogspot.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;01&#x2F;lfi-data-analysis-with-fpc.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ziotom78.blogspot.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;01&#x2F;lfi-data-analysis-with-...</a>