Preface

As an award-winning mathematician, I don’t tolerate mediocrity. That’s what mathematics taught me—never stop until you get it done, and not just in a good way but in the best way.

When I started writing software, I found that the same principles apply. I knew some colleagues who were neglectful of their work, and I saw how their results suffered from that. They were impatient to finish their tasks, not worrying about the quality of the software they produced, let alone searching for the best possible solution. For those guys, reusing the same code meant simply copying and pasting it everywhere they needed it. I saw how being impatient to finish the task as quickly as possible led to that same task being reopened again and again, because of bugs and problems with the code as written.

Thankfully, those colleagues have been few and far between. Most of my friends were people that I could learn from. I had the opportunity to work for Hewlett Packard, not only with the technical team, but also with the project managers on every level, and from them I learned the secret of delivering a quality software product. Later, I became involved with the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), where I had the chance to work with some of the best software developers on the planet. I studied their best practices and habits of writing code, writing test cases and sharing information among ourselves, and I was able to apply the things I learned to projects for some of the biggest clients of HP.

Gradually I got interested in the question of ensuring the sustainable quality of a software product. Then I met Vincent Massol and Felipe Leme in the spring of 2008. I had worked with both of them on the Cactus framework at the ASF. Vince proposed that I write an up-to-date revision of the bestselling book he authored five years ago. The plan was clear, but I needed some soul mates to help me achieve it. That’s when I contacted Felipe Leme and Gary Gregory. They both agreed to help with some of the chapters.

Things moved faster after that, and we spent a year and a half writing with the primary goal of revising Vince’s work. If someone had told me in the beginning how hard it would be, I wouldn’t have believed him. And that is why I feel that I need I to express my sincere gratitude to the Manning team—they made the whole journey a lot easier.

Now that the book is finished and you hold it in your hands, I hope you enjoy it. It has been a rough journey to get it done, but here it is. I know you’ll learn a lot of new things from our book, the way I’m sure you’ll improve the quality of your software—you’ve already taken the first step.

PETAR TAHCHIEV