acknowledgments

I can’t begin anywhere else than by thanking my best friend, accomplice, and wife, Emily. Without her support, encouragement, and willingness to listen to me blather about writing challenges, we’d never have gotten past page 1. I must also thank one very good dog: my writing muse, Ernie. His inclusion as the proprietor of Ernie's Eats reflects the immensity of his contributions. He passed away just as I finished writing, and I miss him terribly. I would also like to thank my teammates at Discord. Our experiences operating ScyllaDB have been invaluable when writing this book, and I’m hoping that our lessons learned can spare readers from some late-night alerts. I’d like to especially thank Mike Sun, my manager, who encouraged me to write this book after my shock from the initial reach-out from Manning.