I know C++, but I don't always know how to use it.

[JLBorges]

> Nobody should have to learn how to build their own vector, input stream, or allocation function before learning how to use them.

+1

Our approach is possible only because C++, and our understanding of it, has had time to mature. That maturity has let us ignore many of the low-level ideas that were the mainstay of earlier C++ programs and programmers.

The ability to ignore details is characteristic of maturing technologies. For example, early automobiles broke down so often that every driver had to be an amateur mechanic. It would have been foolhardy to go for a drive without knowing how to get back home even if something went wrong. Today's drivers don't need detailed engineering knowledge in order to use a car for transportation. They may wish to learn the engineering details for other reasons, but that's another story entirely.

We define abstraction as selective ignorance--concentrating on the ideas that are relevant to the task at hand, and ignoring everything else--and we think that it is the most important idea in modern programming. The key to writing a successful program is knowing which parts of the problem to take into account, and which parts to ignore. Every programming langauge offers tools for creating useful abstractions, and every successful programmer knows how to use those tools.

- Koenig and Moo in 'Accelerated C++' http://www.acceleratedcpp.com/details/preface.html