In the space of a page or so, I can't hope to convey my appreciation to everyone who helped me along the way to making this, my first book, a reality. However, I would like to call out a few specific people who have made extraordinary contributions to the process.

First, anyone who has written a book knows that although there is one name on the cover, it takes one heck of a team to write a book. Thank you to everyone at Apress for giving me the opportunity. Thanks to Steve Anglin for believing in the concept and allowing me the chance to write as a first-time author. Thank you to Anita Castro and Douglas Pundick for your relentless drive to help me finish this book. I'd also like to thank all of the editorial staff who worked on the book; your efforts made me look like I actually knew how to spell and construct an intelligent sentence.

A special thank you to Manuel Jordan, my technical reviewer. Without his thorough feedback on the text and testing of every example, this book would not be nearly what it is now.

Within my professional life, a number of people have helped me along the way to this milestone. First I'd like to thank Peter Costa and the Fees team for giving me the opportunity to work with Spring Batch in such a demanding environment. Thanks to Joel Tosi for his encouragement and for pushing me to expand who I am professionally beyond what happens in a cubicle. I'd also like to thank my manager at Trustwave, Matt Konda: his ongoing support and encouragement is more than I ever expected or could have asked for.

Thanks to David Sayer and the people on the Spring Batch team. You have not only put together a great framework but also built an amazing community around it.

Writing a book takes a toll not only on the author but on everyone in the author's life. Their support allows me to do what I do. I'd like to offer a special thank you to my family and friends who have put time with me on hold to allow me to make this dream come true. Thank you to my parents, my sister, my extended family, my wife's family, and all my friends. All of you sacrificed over the course of the eight months it took me to write this book. I love you all very much.

I conclude with the one person who has supported me without question during this entire process. While she put things on hold for us and made things happen when I couldn't, I wrote my book. My most heartfelt thank you goes to my best friend and wife, Erica. Without you, neither this book nor who I am today would be possible. I love you and thank you.