You may have observed a running debate in the letters pages of this magazine in recent months. (No, not the one about a bulletin board for downloading code — that's the topic of some future editorial when we have more definitive answers.) I'm talking about the issue of whether The C Users Journal has become too "academic."My first reaction was to dismiss an occasional complaint along those lines as being off the mark. After all, hadn't I already come out against turning The C Users Journal into an academic rag? (See the April 1991 "Editor's Forum.") I thought I had impeccable credentials as a pragmatist and all-around anti-intellectual slob. Absent any specific examples to the contrary, I figured we were home free.
After three or four letters, I finally got the message. At least some of the letter writers were using the term "academic" to mean something a bit different than I normally envision. Our articles have grown "loftier" or more "hifalutin" since I took over editorial selection. Both those terms have negative as well as positive connotations, so don't expect me to defend this gradual change with smug self assurance.
Believe it or not, I like running articles about neat little programs and functions that help you get more out of your PC or Mac. The CUG library is chock full of code of that sort that goes sadly unreported in these pages. Since I became aware of the lack, I have asked Kenji Hino and Leor Zolman to supply more such articles. Unfortunately, their other duties at R&D limit the time they can spend writing copy.
I also feel the need to grow this magazine in certain directions. One is toward more sophisticated articles. C is in use everywhere. To be a professional C programmer, you need a smattering of knowledge in all sorts of fields. That's a major criterion I apply in selecting an article — does it provide useful information to a significant number of practicing C programmers? To me, that's hardly academic, but I can see how it would appear so to someone uninterested in a particular piece of sophistication.
An editor is like a politician in at least one important regard. You're not doing your job if you ignore public opinion, and you're not doing your job if you bow to every public opinion poll. I'll keep listening to your criticism as long as you keep sending it. (An occasional note of praise is always welcome as well.) And while it may not be obvious, I do change my opinion from time to time.
P.J. Plauger
pjp@wsa.oz
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