Braden graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, but soon pivoted to software after he spent way too much of his free time writing C++. Now he can do it for work *and* in his free time! Today, Braden uses C++ in his day job in a corporate setting. Otherwise, he spends his extra time working part-time for the C++ Alliance, and spends his free time working on parser combinators, compile-time testing, and getting involved in the C++ community.