Acknowledgments

To everyone who helped make this book a reality, from the bottom of my heart, I cannot thank you enough!

There are so many people who have helped me in my career and with this book that it’s going to be impossible to thank them all. I will undoubtedly forget someone important, and I apologize to whoever that may be. That said, I have to begin by thanking my family and friends. There’s no way this book would ever exist without their help and support.

My wife, Becky, was encouraging from day one and has always been supportive of my endeavors, no matter if they seemed like good ideas or not. Our pup, Gatsby, who makes me smile every day, kept my feet warm all winter while I was writing, using them as his bed under my desk. All of the thanks in the world would not be enough for my parents, Wes and Deb, who have provided me with more support and guidance than I could have ever dreamed. I love them all.

Before this was a book it was a website, and that website received feedback from some of the best in the business. I’m incredibly thankful to Jeff Cohen, Mike Gibson, Scott Robbin, Christopher Webb, Russell Schoenbeck, Dan Kim, Chris Mills, Bruce Lawson, Christian Heilmann, and many others for their initial feedback on these lessons. Of course the website itself wouldn’t have existed without the help of Darby Frey, who has had my back for years and is easily one of the best guys I know.

I tapped on quite a few friends for content for this book, and I was overwhelmed by all of their contributions. I owe two-handed high fives to Aaron Irizarry, Adam Connor, AJ Self, Arman Ghosh, Bermon Painter, Brad Smith, Candi Lemoine, Carolyn Chandler, Chris Mills, Dan Denney, Darby Frey, Erica Decker, Estelle Weyl, Jen Myers, Jenn Downs, Jennifer Jones, Leslie Jensen-Inman, Maya Bruck, Russ Unger, Tessa Harmon, Victoria Pater, Vitaly Friedman, and Zoe Mickley Gillenwater. Next time I see each of them the high fives are payable in full, and dinner is on me.

I owe a ton of thanks to the New Riders family who helped bring this all together. Michael Nolan eased my fear of writing a book and gave me a gracious introduction to New Riders. Jennifer Lynn deserves an award for keeping this book on track and helping make sense of the content within it. Chris Mills did a fantastic job of making sure all of the right topics were covered in an understandable manner. Jennifer Needham put my words to work, making me sound better than I ever imagined. Mimi Heft always went the extra mile and was incredibly patient with me. Nancy Peterson handled every request I threw at her with ease and kept the entire team on the same page. They’re all superheroes in my eyes, and they made writing this book an amazing experience.

Much of the content within this book has been heavily influenced by those who have written books and publications before me, and who continue to be thought leaders within the industry. Without the contributions of Jeffrey Zeldman, Eric Meyer, Dan Cederholm, Dave Shea, Andy Budd, Jeremy Keith, Cameron Moll, Ethan Marcotte, Chris Coyier, and others, it’s hard to say what I’d know.

Today the Mozilla Developer Network and Dev.Opera communities are publishing some of best content on HTML and CSS; they have become staples within a long list of great resources. They must be thanked, too, for their amazing contributions.

When not in the office I do my best to stay involved in the community, and to that end I help organize a handful of different events in the Chicago area. While writing this book I fell behind on my duties, and I must thank Russ Unger and Brad Simpson from Chicago Camps and Jon Buda and Anthony Zinni from Refresh Chicago for picking up my slack. They all helped to carry my portion of the work without hesitation, and I’m thankful and honored to have them as partners in crime.

Many people have generously offered words of wisdom and lent an ear from time to time. For that, I must thank Bill DeRouchey, Bill Scott, Brad Wilkening, Braden Kowitz, Brandon Satrom, Carl Smith, Chris Courtney, Chris Eppstein, Crystal Shuller, Dale Sande, Dave Giunta, Dave Hoover, Debra Levin Gelman, Derek Featherstone, Dustin Anderson, Fabian Alcantara, Greg Baugues, Hampton Catlin, Jack Toomey, Jason Kunesh, Jason Ulaszek, JC Grubbs, Jim and Jen Remsik, Jonathan Snook, Keith Norman, Luis D. Rodriguez, Michael Boeke, Michael “Doc” Norton, Michael Parenteau, Milton Jackson, Nishant Kothary, Peter Merholz, Sam Rosen, Samantha Soma, Tim Frick, Todd Larsen, and Todd Zaki Warfel.

Last, but certainly not least, I must thank the late Matt Puchlerz. He taught me more than he’ll ever know, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. I am forever grateful for Matt’s friendship, and I miss him dearly.