If he already knew how to code in other object oriented languages, and was really just learning C++ syntax over the weekend, it’s not as much of a stretch.

C++ is one of the most flexible and unopinionated languages you could ever encounter.

The idea that someone who knows a high-level object-oriented language could translate that to immediate success in low-level C++ syntax at a level higher than the experts that developed the libraries over a weekend is frankly fantastical.

> the experts that developed the libraries over a weekend is frankly fantastical.

this is not synonymous with "most [C++ programmers] in industry"

The claim was the person learned it better than most people in industry, not most people writing the libraries upon which the industry is based

EDIT: Also we don't technically know when this happened. If this story is from the 1990s, it's a lot more likely, because think of how many shitty C++ programmers there were back then since we didn't have all the language options we do now. It was still the language taught in schools, for example. Then it was Java and Python and JS etc. But back then, Jonny Mackintosh was writing bad C++ out of uni.

Also it's constrained to "most people I've met in industry". If OP doesn't work with C++ developers...

It's more likely that he was a decent C developer and learnt the basics of C++ and then ignored most of it.

C++ --

prob why there is so much garbage C++ code. someone needs to set the right way of doing things

Having seen physicists code, I REALLY doubt this.

Bah! Let's go invert the matrix!