It's not the only way, but if you do the tradeoff of going with manual memory management, then you should accept what the tradeoff entails. Essential complexity is non-reducible -- you either manage it automatically through a GC or choose a model that while let you ignore it quite often, will make you think about it in the end.
Not at all. I just do not like to dance around bonfire with tam-tam and being told that this is the one and only way