Acknowledgments

Writing a book is a lot of hard work, and there are countless people who contribute, both directly and indirectly, to a book’s success.

Christina, I can never repay you for the sacrifices you have made nor for the constant encouragement and support that has kept me going these past few months. I love you. To my parents and my sister, thank you for always believing in me and for sharing in my successes as well as my failures.

Thanks to all of my family and friends for your patience and understanding during this time. Your support means more than you know.

A special thanks is owed to all of the people at Sams who have worked so hard to make this book such a wonderful success. Katie Purdum, thank you for believing in this book from the very beginning and for being so helpful and friendly throughout. Scott Meyers, I feel so lucky to be able to rely on your expertise. Geoff Young deserves thanks not only for ensuring the technical accuracy of the manuscript, but also for his helpful advice. To the countless other people at Sams who have assisted in so many ways, your efforts are very much appreciated.

I would like to thank Dominic Hulewicz for accommodating my use of the http.org domain.

Lastly, I would like to thank all those who contribute to free software and especially Richard Stallman for making all of this possible. Not only does my professional career rely heavily on free software, but many free software projects were also used in the development of this book.