Re: C and C-style C++
“"But the days of being able to keep the entire state of the machine in your head as you program"
A correct point, but I don't see the relevance here”
It is not just the state machine, it is the general complexity of everything. You need to keep in your head the whole complexity of libraries with many APIs. Some you might be familiar with, others not. It is a great help that compilers actually check that what you have done is correct, especially when you are having to use something obscure.
Really, where are these super programmers who can deal with this complexity in their head?
If you can get it right in your head, fine. It is correct, so the checks won’t bother you. But don’t have the checks and the bugs certainly will bother you.