Stephan T. Lavavej is a Channel 9 hero. You've learned a great deal from him over the years, but you've not really learned much about him. How did STL—that's what we call him since, well, look at his name and what he does for a living—get to where he is today? What's his story? Of course, given STL's expertise and passion, this conversation includes STL's perspectives and opinions on C++ programming, compilers, templates, modern C++, STL (the library), and more. But it also includes a more personal perspective, too. How does STL think about computing? And why C++? Did you know that STL can compile code in his head? Really. Erik Meijer leads this friendly interrogation and considering the IQ, passion, and great conversation the hour goes by much too fast. It's a real pleasure to share a more personal piece on STL as an addition to the usual deeply technical and pragmatic lectures and conversations we're accustomed to. But there's certainly no talking to STL without talking about STL and C++. You are definitely going to learn things by listening in. This is for sure. A huge thanks to Erik for taking the time to do this interview. He was super busy cranking code (C++ at that) on the day we shot this and this interview took him away from his keyboard. Thank you, man. Thank you, STL, for taking the time to be checked in on.