An Editorial

Good Things are happening in the C++ world.

In the almost two decades since I've been on board, C++ has grown from a front end known only to UNIX users to the most widely used and indisputably the most powerful programming language in the world. For reasons understood by many, it has, however, become a very complex language, and many a novice has followed after the siren song of lesser languages. Some of the more vocal have even predicted the beginning of the end for C++.

Not so. As we speak, the C++ standards committee is making progress in cleaning up a number of "gotchas" (all languages have them) and its members are adding powerful abstractions that at once increase the power and the ease of use of your favorite language. Hash tables, tuples, regular expressions, numerous useful smart pointers, more mathematical functions, and fewer syntax ambiguities are coming our way, and that's only the beginning. Microsoft Corporation has also added enhancements that make C++ a superb (if not the preferred) language for .NET development. There's a lot to learn and a lot to be excited about.

To add to the excitement, it is my pleasure to introduce The C++ Source, the authoritative voice for the C++ community on the web. Many of our most esteemed experts have come together to create this new peer-reviewed, online 'zine for the world of C++. (See their names listed under the title Advisory Board on our home page). This is the place for timely and timeless information for C++ development—tutorials, commentary, technical and research articles, news—with a level of quality that only a peer-reviewed outlet can provide.

I invite you to browse, digest, comment, and contribute to the premier online journal for the C++ community.

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