Life: Overview of a Unified C++ Implementation of the Finite and Spectral Element Methods in 1D, 2D and 3D. This article presents an overview of a unified framework for finite element and spectral element methods in 1D, 2D and 3D in C++ called Life. The objectives of this framework are quite ambitious and could be expressed in various ways: (i) the creation of a versatile mathematical kernel allowing for easily solving problems using different techniques thus allowing testing and comparing methods, e.g. cG versus dG, (ii) the creation of a small and manageable library which shall nevertheless encompass a wide range of numerical methods and techniques, and (iii) build mathematical software that follows closely the mathematical abstractions associated with the partial differential equations to be solved.