Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I’d like to thank my incredibly understanding wife, Aine, who has spent the past year and a half doing most of the minding of our two young children (that became “three young children” during the writing of this book!) while I’ve been locked away furiously tapping on my keyboard. She may be the one person in the world who is happier than I to see this book finally published! A special shout-out also needs to go to my in-laws (the Buckleys), who helped Aine entertain our children far away from my home study so I could concentrate.

The Manning team was hugely supportive throughout this process. In particular, I’d like to thank Brian Sawyer, who first got in touch and offered me the chance to write this book. His help in guiding me through the proposal process ensured that the book was picked up by the publisher. Kevin Harreld did a great job as the development editor, gently pushing me in the right direction while patiently answering my many questions. Thomas McKearney provided terrific technical oversight as the technical development editor, giving detailed feedback on all the chapters. The three rounds of reviews organized by Ivan Martinovic provided invaluable feedback and guidance on what was working and what needed improvement as the book progressed. Similarly, the Manning Early Access Program (MEAP) is a fantastic way of getting feedback from real readers, and Matko Hrvatin did great work in organizing that.