  For a long time the significance of charm has been overlooked as an important
component of the heavy flavour programme. In recent years the balance has been
redressed, and charm studies are quite rightly receiving much more attention.
This brief review attempts to explain the motives behind this change in
perception, focusing on the contribution of charm measurements to precision CKM
tests, and the potential that charm has in its own right as a probe of new
physics.
