Heartfelt thanks go first to Jack Litewka, the project editor, for making the creation of this book a thoroughly constructive and enjoyable experience. Thanks also go to Kim Eggleston for the book's design, to Michael Victor for the diagrams, and to Mark Monlux for the terrific illustrations. Sally Brunsman, David Clark, Susanne Freet, Dean Holmes, Wendy Maier, and Heidi Saastamoinen also helped this project go smoothly. Literally dozens of other people contributed to this book in one way or another; I didn't have personal contact with any of them, but I appreciate their contributions, too. (Chief among these, I am told, are layout artist Jeannie McGivern and production manager Jean Trenary of ArtSource and Microsoft Press's proof/copy-edit platoon supervised by Brenda Morris: Richard Carey, Roger LeBlanc, Patrick Forgette, Ron Drummond, Patricia Masserman, Paula Thurman, Jocelyn Elliott, Deborah Long, and Devon Musgrave.)

Microsoft Corporation's technical library provided invaluable aid in digging up the hundreds of books and articles that laid the foundation for this book. Keith Barland spearheaded that effort, making my research efforts much less arduous and time-consuming than they otherwise might have been. Other people at the library who helped included Janelle Jones, Christine Shannon, Linda Shaw, Amy Victor, Kyle Wagner, Amy Westfall, and Eilidh Zuvich.

I expound on the virtue of reviews in several places in this book, and this book has benefited greatly from extensive peer reviews. Al Corwin, Pat Forman, Tony Garland, Hank Meuret, and Matt Peloquin stuck with the project from beginning to end. Thanks to them for seeing that the book you hold in your hands doesn't look very much like the book I originally set out to write! I also received valuable comments from Wayne Beardsley, Duane Bedard, Ray Bernard, Bob Glass, Sharon Graham, Greg Hitchcock, Dave Moore, Tony Pisculli, Steve Rinn, and Bob Stacy—constructive critics, all. David Sommer (age 11) came up with the idea for the last panel of Figure 14-3. Thanks, David. And, finally, I'd like to thank my wife, Tammy, for her moral support and good humor. I have to start working on my third book immediately so that she will stop elbowing me in the ribs and calling me a Two-Time Author!

Bellevue, Washington June 1996