  We explain the many reasons for the interest in flavor physics. We describe
flavor physics and the related CP violation within the Standard Model, and
explain how the B-factories proved that the Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism
dominates the CP violation that is observed in meson decays. We explain the
implications of flavor physics for new physics, with emphasis on the "new
physics flavor puzzle", and present the idea of minimal flavor violation as a
possible solution. We explain why the values flavor parameters of the Standard
Model are puzzling, present the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism as a possible
solution, and describe how measurements of neutrino parameters are interpreted
in the context of this puzzle. We show that the recently discovered Higgslike
boson may provide new opportunities for making progress on the various flavor
puzzles.
