My father has worked for the same university, doing the same job (Entomologist with CSU's Extension Service), for more than 28 years. I, on the other hand, have worked at six companies in 10 years, following overlapping-but-distinct career paths (hint: they all have had to do with programming and/or publishing). My father says I'm a flake and can't make up my mind. I say I'm about average for the industry. Technology changes fast and often; the people who work with technology follow suit. And—stay with me here, I'm getting to my point—so does Visual C++ Developers Journal. Here are some of the cool things going on.

I'm especially excited about one of the changes we're making this issue: We're introducing the Black Belt column to VCDJ. This is the place you'll want to turn to each month for lean, powerful programming techniques, illustrated in innovative real-world apps. And, as you might infer from the column title, this column will often be pretty advanced, even by VCDJ standards. I'm happy to have Tom Creighton, owner of Lone Peak Technology Group, launching this column. Tom's been a professional software engineer for more than 20 years and currently consults in database design and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) development. I've known Tom for more than five years, during which time he's put up with a lot of my questions, especially when we worked at the same software company (WordPerfect, where Tom was the principal designer of the then-new macro system ... and I was the brat who documented it). Tom's a great teacher and a great programmer, not to mention a nice guy. And he has a fairly thick skin, so be sure to let us know how you like his articles.

I'm also pleased to have Andy Harding, a senior software engineer with BSQUARE Corp., as our new Ask the VC++ Pro columnist. He has been working on projects for many different technology companies including Microsoft, HP, and IBM. Andy says his most important asset in programming is that he's "learned how to ask questions and who to ask." I'd say that makes him perfect for the Q&A column.

So are we done making changes? Hardly. I've been getting an awful lot of e-mail from folks telling me they feel excluded by our focus on high-end topics—even our Fundamentals column is pretty stratospheric, some say. I think they're right; it needs an overhaul. So we're taking a break from Fundamentals this issue while we retool it. Next month you can count on a Fundamentals column that's much more ... uhhh ... fundamental. We'll also be introducing a new Tips columnist and a new Middle Tier columnist (we've already got guys to do this, but we're being secretive about who they are, for no good reason I can think of).

Hey, speaking of change, you might have heard a rumor or two that the next release of Visual Studio might have some ... ummmm ... significant changes. I'm sure we'll learn more soon, but Microsoft has already disclosed new features such as ATL Server, Web Services, and XML integration, with some news outlets reporting even more changes on the horizon. And while we can't say much about those changes yet, we can say that we're ready for them, and that you can count on VCDJ to give you a thorough, independent perspective of how it will affect you. Further, when the next release of Visual Studio is actually available, you can bet we'll adapt in any way necessary to give you the how-to knowledge you need to develop with it. Don't worry, though, we won't neglect VC++ 6, because if past patterns are any indication, not everyone will have perfect confidence in Microsoft's initial release.