At the same time, I reviewed the library portion of the draft C++ Standard in detail and produced an HTML online reference manual in the bargain. These too proved to be companion operations. Describing something in exquisite detail forces you to read the spec with equal attention to detail. You see all the warts. And trying to understand a complex standard is greatly aided by having to re-express it as you go.

Doing these four jobs all at once has given me an edge on the competition, at least temporarily. I've got complete products out for evaluation while others are still scrabbling to finish the job. Such an edge in time eventually disappears, of course. Once that happens, you can sell on quality, or terms, or reputation, but not on being the only game in town. Tired as I am, I'm busy making hay while the sun shines.

Aside from the subliminal commercial message, my point is that the C++ marketplace has reached a new level. Compiler vendors are finally beginning to believe they know what C++ is mostly going to look like when the Standard freezes for good. Luckily for me, many vendors seem bent on buying libraries rather than making their own. (Buying compiler front-ends for C++ has long been an important subindustry.) We are reaching a new level of completeness and stability in a traditionally volatile field.

It is ironic, I supose, that the C Standard is just starting to change in earnest as C++ settles down. Committees X3J11 and WG14 are moving with careful deliberation, but they are finally adding new features to Standard C. But that's a topic for a separate editorial.

P.J. Plauger
Senior Editor