I first met Pete a few years ago when I started attending C++ standards meetings, after my sojourn in Australia. I found him to be one of those (altogether too rare) individuals who work at least as much for the good of the Standard as a whole as he does for the best interests of his company. Pete has represented Borland to X3J16 from the outset, bringing a level-headed pragmatism to a sometimes volatile environment.

Some of you may worry that we've admitted a Borland booster to our midst. I'm not. For one thing, I know Pete to be knowledgable about C and C++ in general, not just his company's products. For another, I have every confidence that he will bring the same even-handed approach to answering questions in CUJ that he's brought to developing the C++ Standard. Besides, I view the major C/C++ compiler vendors as important fellow contributors to our joint enterprise, not enemies to be watched at every turn. (Such is the confrontational nature of our society today that the latter stance has a ready supply of cheerleaders, sadly.)

After extensive market research lasting several minutes, and in-depth research stretching over most of a day, we've settled on the name "Questions and Answers" for Pete Becker's new column. (Yes, we're thrilled at our own inventiveness.) Beneath the utilitarian name, however, we're sure you'll easily detect the lucid tone and easy humor of our latest contributor. Welcome, Pete.

P.J. Plauger
pjp@plauger.com