Title: Editorial

Another week, another issue of C Vu, another weak C++ joke. Well, not just another week, more like another two months - but it seems to me to come around more often. I am now ably assisted by Pippa, our new production editor. That this issue appears as good as it does is down to Pippa cleaning up after me! A number of contributors make an appearance for the first time in this C Vu, alongside some regular names. Much is new.

Inevitably not all changes work out quite so well for the ACCU, and Pete Goodliffe has informed us that he needs to scale back his extensive contributions to the ACCU. In some cases editors over-inflate claims of past contributions in a bid to flatter people, but if there are any of you out there to whom Pete's name is not already familiar, a quick look over past journals or your ACCU handbook should suffice to convince you that Pete has made a very real difference. I for one appreciate Pete's past involvement, as well as his willingness to continue to contribute where possible. Maybe you can register your own appreciation by reading his report and considering stepping up and helping to fill the hole. This time I will spare you the rant about ACCU being powered by its members: read almost any of my past editorials if you want to be ranted at! Thanks for all of your work Pete (and please don't be offended that I've declined Word's invitation to change your surname to "Godlike"!).

A new direction for the ACCU is the formation of a Python SIG. We really have no reason to pretend that we are just about C and C++. ACCU is about professionalism in programming, and that means choosing appropriate tools, not sticking to the Swiss-army chainsaw that is C++. (With apologies to Perl fans, who "know" that Perl is the real chainsaw.) This C Vu sees the first article from the Python SIG, an introduction to the SIG and to Python. Expect to see more about Python in coming issues - and if your interest is serious, who not look at the Python projects springing up under the umbrella of the accu-mentored-developers structure?

Next, two requests for some input from you. Firstly, Addison Wesley have asked for your input to a survey; see the letters section for more details. I would suggest that your involvement may well help. As publishers AW have given us many fine books on C++, and a few inexplicable turkeys. In keeping with the history of C Vu editorials as being entirely neutral, I will not single out the contributions of Till Jeske and Jeff Savage as being expensive fire-lighters without mentioning that the "C++ In Depth" series shows what AW is capable of. Please do make your opinions known.

The second request for input is from Bjarne Stroustrup. At http://www.research.att.com/~bs/applications.html Bjarne is collating an illustrative list of some applications of C++. Rather than playing Chinese Whispers and trying to give you my own explanation of what makes the list, I'll ask you to read the description at that URL. If you think that applications you are developing or have developed would be illuminating to others, consider mailing Bjarne. His e-mail address is on his homepage, reachable from the URL above. (Brief, clear technical descriptions are best; sales hype is likely to find a home in the bit bucket.)

Having spent so much time appealing to you to contribute, I should make amends by doing so myself. Coming up Real Soon Now, expect to see some coverage of the development of a computerised player for the game of Pente, an inspired excuse to play around with simple genetic algorithms in C++. This should be a chance to follow a fairly simple but non-trivial project from its early stages through to a complete system. I may never win the Pente competition in this household, but I have hopes that the program I am writing might.

In the next issue, expect to see the XML series return with an article on DOM from David Nash. Also there will be a response from an author to one of the ACCU's book reviews (they do get noticed!) and... the rest is up to you. Keep me happy, keep those articles coming! A short editorial this time; I am only here to introduce the acts. Now, on with the show.