Colophon

The animal on the cover of Semantic Software Design is an African forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), a subspecies of the Cape buffalo found in Africa. This type of buffalo lives in rainforests throughout the western and central parts of the continent, in contrast to the other three subspecies who roam the savanna.

African forest buffalo are the smallest subspecies at 550–700 pounds (compared to 880–1760 pounds for the Cape buffalo). They have red-brown hides with dark faces. The shape and size of their horns is also distinct from their larger cousins, as the horns are smaller, grow in a different direction, and do not fuse in the center. The buffalo feed on grass and various plants in clearings around the forest. As deforestation occurs, the buffalo have also adapted to graze near human roads or recently logged areas where grass is now able to grow.

Herds of forest buffalo are relatively small at no more than 30 individuals, and are typically made up of 1–2 bulls and several females, juveniles, and calves. The bulls stay with this group the entire year rather than cycling through a bachelor herd. The herd size is usually a deterrent to predators, as most cannot kill an adult buffalo. One notable exception is the Nile crocodile.

Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world.

The cover illustration is by Jose Marzan, based on a black and white engraving from Lydekker’s Royal Natural History. The cover fonts are Gilroy Semibold and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.