Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of all those who helped make this book possible.

Our sincere thanks to Kirk Knoernschid, Todd Dunnavant, Dave Tropeano, Atma Sutjianto, Kevin Kelly, Terry Quatrani, Carolyn Hakansson-Johnston, Ingrid Subbotin, Jim Conallen, Loïc Julien, Dave Hauck, James Abbott, Simon Johnston, Tommy Fannon, Hassan Issa, and all others who provided direct or indirect input, clarifications, ideas, feedback, guidance, and reviews at various stages, from before inception through to completion. Their help was instrumental in defining and redefining the work, in eliminating inaccuracies, in creating additional material, and in the end, the result is a better product overall.

A special thank you to Todd Dunnavant. He not only reviewed multiple drafts cover to cover, he also generously provided in-depth written explanations, suggestions, and comments on various topics that we were only too happy to incorporate in the book.

Kirk Knoernschid's succinct review was most helpful in getting us to focus and remedy some of the key deficiencies in an earlier, draft version. Thank you for that.

Khawar would like to acknowledge and thank Kevin Kelly for his guidance and mentoring. Kevin's insights and ideas were immensely useful throughout this project.

Dave Tropeano's review of a very early draft directly led to a revectoring of our overall approach and the addition of at least two full chapters. The final version is better because of it, and we have Dave to thank.

Our thanks to Rational Software and its management for fostering a work environment in which such endeavors can be undertaken. We would especially like to thank Steve Rabuchin for his willingness to go the extra mile to help others pursue their ideas and achieve their goals. We would also like to thank Jim McGee, Roger Oberg, Magnus Christerson, John Scumniotales, Matt Halls, and Eric Naiburg. Had it not been for the encouragement and support of these individuals, this book would neither have been conceived nor written.

We are very grateful to the staff at Addison-Wesley for their support throughout this project. We especially thank Paul W. Becker and his assistant Jessica Cirone who assisted, reminded, guided, and prodded us through the publishing process. Many thanks to Anne Marie Walker who, through her thoughtful editing, transformed our semi-coherent passages into readable paragraphs. Thanks also to Kathy Glidden of Stratford Publishing Services, Inc. for her skilled project management in the critical production stage.

We benefited immensely from others who have worked on or written about the UML, J2EE, and related topics. To that end, we would like to thank the various authors whose books, articles, and Web sites are listed in the References section. Their works helped expand our understanding of the subjects.

Last but most importantly, we would like to thank our families for their patience and support throughout these last several months. Khawar would like to thank his wife Heike and his daughter Yasmeen for their cheerful and understanding attitude and for their support during this long commitment. Heike's diligent proofreading and corrections to the draft at various stages were invaluable and resulted in the elimination of numerous late-night typos and incoherent sentences. Cary would like to thank his wife Socorro for all her support and helpfulness during this lengthy project.

—K.Z.A.

—C.E.U.