It takes an incredible amount of work to produce a book. I believe this is a great book—and hope you’ll agree—but it wouldn’t be nearly as strong as it is without the help of a number of people along the way.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my wife, Courtney. You have been supportive and encouraging through the entire process. You have carried the burden of this book with me. You even provided editorial support in a number of key places. I could not have done this without you.
I’d like to acknowledge my boss, Mark Eagle, and the rest of my team at Intercontinental Exchange. Thank you for encouraging me on the way and allowing me to slip away to write on countless lunch breaks.
Thanks to my acquisitions editor, Greg Wild, who found my pathetic first drafts online and reached out to me. And thanks to Manning’s publisher, Marjan Bace, who saw the potential in this idea. There’s always a risk associated in green-lighting a book, particularly with a new author. Thank you for taking that chance.
A good book can’t exist without an editor. Thanks to Kristen Watterson for your commitment to quality. This is a much better book because of your input. And thanks to my technical editor, Robin Dewson, for your patience and insight throughout this long process.
Thanks to Birnou Sebarté and Louis Lazaris for giving the book a final, thorough technical proofread. Thanks to Chris Coyier for your willingness to write my foreword.