I feel like he is missing the boat here. C++ is on a path to dying as a language because of a lack of safety features, and he’s talking about zero cost abstractions. Exceptions cause massive compiler issues and are hardly zero cost anyway, I don’t know how he can compare them at all to std::expected. Also anyone who has worked in an exception heavy codebase can attest to the fact that they do not lead to simpler code.

I have worked with C++ almost every day for a decade now, and I’ll be sad to see it go. This is not what the thought leaders should be focusing on at all. If you’re unhappy with std:: expected just don’t use it? Why can’t we focus on fixing the thousands of security vulnerabilities that cause real harm and money and endless developer time to try to work around.