One can use C++ in radically different ways.

I would appreciate a reference implementation in Rust. Or, if not intended for immediate linking, in something like OCaml or ATS. Clarity and correctness are important in a reference implementation, and they are harder to achieve using C.

Best practices and rules in C++ are changing on a daily basis as the language is still evolving. On the other hand, C is much more readable for many programmers and researchers even with a little programming experience. Moreover, C is more portable and helps the reference implementation be quickly adapted for production or being used by the other compatible languages.

> Best practices and rules in C++ are changing on a daily basis as the language is still evolving.

Yeah "daily", C++ standard evolves every 3 years minimum and most API are still C++11 meaning 9 years old. "Daily" right ?

This is FUD. Without even mentioning that any C++lib can expose a C API.