Acknowledgments

The writing phase of this book started shortly after my beautiful Isabel and Desmund were born; in hindsight, it wasn't the greatest time to start a project of this scale. I was about to reconsider; however, my wife Jennifer, always being supportive, insisted I follow through. I cannot thank her enough for the superhuman effort she put in to allow me to work on this book. Caring for a baby is not easy under any circumstance, let alone twins! I am extremely proud of her, and I consider my part of this book our joint achievement.

Early on I was also fortunate to have my mother-in-law stay and help out, which made my life a lot easier and allowed me to focus on completing the first draft. Also thanks to my father-in-law, who had to endure without a decent home-cooked meal for quite some time. Similarly thanks to my brother-in-law for providing invaluable help to my wife and me in times of need. I'm also grateful to other members of my family, my friends, and my colleagues who provided help, encouragement, or ideas. I also owe thanks to my own parents for encouraging me to follow my own path and pursue my interests.

I would also like to thank the editorial team at Apress for the guidance, support, and help throughout this project. Likewise, I would like to thank the technical reviewers, Phil Jordan and Graham Lee, for their excellent guidance and their amazing ability to spot even the subtlest of errors. I would also like to mention Barry Naujok, Ian Costello, and Tim Serong for helping me answer questions in relation to networking and memory management. Last but not least, thanks to Doug for all his hard work and for making this book possible at all.

Thanks again to everyone involved!

Ole Henry Halvorsen