The worst way is to emulate Java, putting everything in derived classes with virtual functions, and trafficking in shared_ptr. We call that Java Disease.
Using C++ as a "better C" leaves almost all the potential benefit on the table, leaving you hardly more productive than you were in C. Coding C++ as C++, you can be worlds more productive, making the compiler do most of your work for you, and leaving the bugs behind in the code you didn't need to write.
Not quite what i meant. By "better C" i meant using a "safe subset" of the language without going crazy with all its features which is what i see happening often. Having used C++ since the early 90's i have seen too much incomprehensible and unmaintainable code just because the programmers had learnt a "shiny new technique" from some book and understood it as everything must be done that way(i must admit i too had fallen prey to this disease for a while :-) Thus for example, i have seen code with needlessly deep class hierarchies, design patterns madness, no free standing functions(everything had to be in a class!), complete ban on macros, template and metaprogramming incomprehensibility etc. C++ is powerful but that must be wielded judiciously and responsibly by the programmer which is only feasible with experience and maturity. Thus it is better to err on the side of caution and restrict usage to a well-defined subset of language features.
It is true that you need really good reasons to make virtual functions, or to do metaprogramming. I, also, usually avoid them. I have not made a more than two-level inheritance hierarchy in this millennium. There is no substitute for taste, design sense, or insistence on simplicity.
Stepanov referred to OO as "gook", and has publicly regretted making member functions like size().
But putting types to work for you is a great force multiplier.
The worst way is to emulate Java, putting everything in derived classes with virtual functions, and trafficking in shared_ptr. We call that Java Disease.
Using C++ as a "better C" leaves almost all the potential benefit on the table, leaving you hardly more productive than you were in C. Coding C++ as C++, you can be worlds more productive, making the compiler do most of your work for you, and leaving the bugs behind in the code you didn't need to write.