> Fewer people this year are starting new projects in C++ than last year, and fewer people than that will be starting new projects in C++ next year.

Let's put [Citation needed] on this and let's assume that your personal opinion bubble of developers doesn't really represent the combined worlds software industry. Mind actually proving that there's a significant decline of use of C++ outside the hype crowd?

> Why would one choose C++ for new projects at this point?

Why indeed would you choose a language supported on every running platform on this world with a massive library of supported dependencies and mature compilers developed by stable teams.

(I'd probably also personally choose Rust for new projects, but let's make this a practice in "not everyone is like me" empathy.)