Acknowledgements

This book owes its existence to a long list of contributors. My longtime colleague, Zigurd Mednieks, proposed it. Laura Lewin, Executive Editor at Pearson Technology Group, gave it a green light, and Carol Jelen, Literary Agent at Jelen Publishing, put a deal together.

The production staff at Pearson deftly turned the manuscript into a book. Illustrator Jenny Huckleberry cleaned up the figures and Development Editor Sheri Replin, Copy Editor Abigail Manheim Bass, and Project Editor Lori Lyons cleaned up the drafts. Editorial Assistant Olivia Basegio and Project Manager Ellora Sengupta kept us all together through the process. My thanks to all of you.

A special “thank you” and my eternal gratitude go to Laura Lewin, Executive Editor. Her patience with my complete inability to stick to any kind of schedule surely qualifies her for immediate sainthood.

On this book, my first as a solo author, my technical editors Joe Bowbeer, Thomas Kountis, and Zigurd Mednieks contributed so much that I am tempted to list them as co-authors. They were everything that I could have hoped for in a technical review team. Each, a recognized expert in the field, took the time to read carefully, understand, and then suggest changes as small as rewording and as big as re-thinking. While any remaining errors are strictly my own, any clarity and accuracy are due to them. I am incredibly lucky to have had their help. Thanks, guys!

Finally and always, thanks to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who endured yet another year of weekends with her husband on the couch, headphones on, incommunicado. That glitter heart is still for you, babe!