Acknowledgments

I owe the most thanks to my parents, Wendy and Wally Lengstorf, and to my brother and sister, Kyle and Carly. If you guys hadn't been so forgiving during my many years of troublemaking, I'd probably still be living out of a bag in a van somewhere. I'm especially thankful to my dad, who taught me that software isn't about degrees or certifications, but determination.

To Nate Green, my oldest friend and biggest inspiration — this had better move me up to Friday or Saturday! Thanks for showing me that there's no such thing as too young, too bold, or too ambitious.

To my friends Kyle Hibler, Mike Scialabba, and Taylor Selig: keep at it. Someday you'll write books, too, and then you'll be as cool as Nate and I. Thanks for putting up with my geekiness and letting me be on Team Cobra.

I also can't forget to thank Chris Coyier. My clumsy article on his web site was my springboard into this project, and I am sincerely grateful that he took a chance on some punk kid from Montana.

Michelle Lowman, thanks for reading that article and giving me a shot. And for putting up with my incessant questions. And dealing with my utter lack of experience. I really appreciate it, and it's probably the only thing that got me through this project alive.

Gordon Forsythe, thanks for keeping my code clean. Without you, my code might have ended up held together by duct tape. And Patrick Meader, thank you for all your time spent poring over my bad English. This book would have been a grammatical disaster without your help.

Debra Kelly, you came into this project halfway through and managed to somehow put us ahead of schedule. I don't know how you did it, but thanks!

And finally, to all my geeky friends: Rob MacKay, Mike Conaty, Robert Banh, Brenley Dueck, Drew Douglass, Andy Sowards, Tomo Kawai, Chad Engle, and the whole #DCTH crew—thanks for asking questions, providing answers, and reminding me why I do what I do.