C++: The Documentary
Shares rank 8 of 17 documentary films by recommenders
Free documentary on C++'s history with famous contributors and early-days stories; critics say it feels promotional, with few critical voices.
Free documentary on C++'s history with famous contributors and early-days stories; critics say it feels promotional, with few critical voices.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Features well-known C++ contributors
“What a lineup of contributors—Stroustrup, Stepanov, Kernighan, Lattner, and more in one film.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “C++: The Documentary Released Today” “The C++ documentary released last month was great and featured him a lot”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Ben Bernanke Joins Anthropic Oversight Trust”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
One-sided, promotional, lacks critical voices
“The video certainly feels more like a hagiography and I noticed the lack of critical voices.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “C++: The Documentary Released Today” “Seems more like a marketing piece. There doesn't appear to be much on the way of journalism involved.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “C++: The Documentary Released Today” Built from short talking-head sentences
“I cannot watch a documentary that's made out of people saying short sentences.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “C++: The Documentary Released Today”
Other documentary films people recommend
The four most recommended other documentary films, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| You Can See Everything | 39 | 30 | 57% | 2 | — | — |
| The Thinking Game | 15 | 8 | 65% | 3 | — | — |
| HyperNormalisation by Adam Curtis | 14 | 1 | 93% | 7 | — | Approved |
| It's Quieter in the Twilight | 12 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| C++: The DocumentaryThis page | 8 | 1 | 89% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The C++ documentary released last month was great and featured him a lot”
“The video certainly feels more like a hagiography and I noticed the lack of critical voices.”
“About time they watch something decent.”
“I cannot watch a documentary that's made out of people saying short sentences.”
“What a lineup of contributors—Stroustrup, Stepanov, Kernighan, Lattner, and more in one film.”
“Seems more like a marketing piece. There doesn't appear to be much on the way of journalism involved.”
“Thank you for releasing this for free!”
“I find it quite interesting, especially the storys from the early days of C++”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.