  I review our current understanding of the evolution of cataclysmic variables
(CVs). I first provide a brief introductory "CV primer", in which I describe
the physical structure of CVs, as well as their astrophysical significance. The
main part of the review is divided into three parts. The first part outlines
the theoretical principles of CV evolution, focusing specifically on the
standard "disrupted magnetic braking" model. The second part describes how some
of the most fundamental predictions this model are at last being test
observationally. Finally, the third part describes recent efforts to actually
reconstruct the evolution path of CVs empirically. Some of these efforts
suggest that angular momentum loss below the period gap must be enhanced
relative to the purely gravitational-radiation-driven losses assumed in the
standard model.
