Good point(s), especially #4. The article compares an 80s language (C++) to a 90s language (Java), not to more recent compiler toolchains. Admittedly, there aren't many options here, and e.g. Scala (which I hope will be covered in future articles) relies on the java toolchain.
Edit: C++ and Java also have different cultures. The simplest compilation with g++ is "g++ foo.cpp -o foo", which isn't much more complex than "javac Foo.java". The fine-grained options clang/g++ give you are part of the “you pay for what you use”-mentality of C++.
Edit: C++ and Java also have different cultures. The simplest compilation with g++ is "g++ foo.cpp -o foo", which isn't much more complex than "javac Foo.java". The fine-grained options clang/g++ give you are part of the “you pay for what you use”-mentality of C++.