acknowledgments

Writing a book is a long journey that requires sacrifice. I couldn’t have done it without my amazing wife, Ebru, who patiently covered for me on countless weekends while I wrote. I also missed a lot of precious playtime with my kids, Aren and Lina, and our golden retriever, Rosie. Yes, I missed playing videogames, too.

A heartfelt thank-you goes to my mom and dad, who bought me my first computer when I was little. I wouldn’t have become proficient with computers without their support and encouragement. I’m also thankful to my brother, Kivanc, with whom I built amazing software as a kid. Special thanks go to the kind guy at the computer hardware store who gave me my first programming book and patiently answered all my silly questions back in the day.

I’m grateful to Manning for believing in me and having the courage to support this book from start to finish.

To all the reviewers: Aaron Barton, Andy Robinson, Barnaby Norman, Brent Honadel, Christopher Haupt, Clifford Thurber, Francisco Rivas, Frans Oilinki, James Bishop, Jim Amrhein, Joel Holmes, Jonathan Reeves, Katia Patkin, Martin Dehnert, Michael Bang, Ori Pomerantz, Paolo Antinori, Paul Snow, Peter Sellars, Ramanan Natarajan, Rich Yonts, Ronald Haring, Ryan Burrows, Steven Edwards, and Walter Alexander Mata Lopez. Your thoughtful suggestions greatly improved this book.