Acknowledgments

This book was a lot of work. No, make that really a lot of work! But I believe that this is a great book, and I hope that you will think so as well. There are quite a few people I’d like to thank for helping me along the way.

First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Jeanne. You’ve always supported me, always patiently listened while I struggled to get this done, and always made me believe I could finish this. I love you.

Next, I’d like to acknowledge my editor at Manning, Helen Stergius. Thank you for working with me, and thank you more for being patient when things got rough. Your commitment to the quality of this book has made it better for everyone who reads it. Thanks as well to all the other folks at Manning who worked with me on the production and promotion of the book. It was truly a team effort.

I’d also like to thank the reviewers who took the time to read my manuscript at various stages during its development and who provided invaluable feedback: Barry Alexander, Becky Huett, Charlie Gaines, Chris Snow, Chris Wayman, Doug Warren, Greg Murray, Ivo Štimac, Jérôme Baton, Matt Royten, Michael E. Roberts, Natalia Stavisky, Satish Kumar Bairi, and Yogesh Poojari. Special thanks to Cody Sand, technical proofreader, for his careful review of the code one last time, shortly before the book went into production.