The image of writing as a solitary person laboring in the dark of night to produce a literary masterpiece is a grand fiction, usually perpetuated by writers who know better. I might have worked in the dark of night, but that’s the only part of the image that holds up to serious scrutiny. Writing a book is a team effort. My agent, Marta Justak, helped me get the book and took some lumps intended for me when I fell behind on the schedule. As usual, Marta, you’re the best. Let’s do this again, but leave out the parts that weren’t fun.

The editorial team was first rate. Special thanks to Mitzi Koontz for graciously accommodating my request to extend the schedule; Marta Justak, the copy editor, eliminated a distressing number of typos and grammatical mistakes; Melba Hopper, proofreader extraordinaire, gets extra credit for understanding the conventions I adopted and perversely managed not to follow; and Rick Reynolds, my technical editor, noted some algorithmic subtleties and downright blunders that would have embarrassed me and misled you. Sharon Shock, the indexer, had the thankless but vital task of creating the index. A good index makes the difference between a book that sits on the shelf and a book that gets dog-eared and marked-up. Thanks to you all—it’s a much better book as a result of your ministrations.

I appreciate the help and support of my colleagues at Panasas, the inhabitants of the #tcl channel on Freenode, and my friends. Panasas tolerated my bleary-eyed appearances at the office. The Tcl and Tk pros on #tcl answered oddball questions about Tcl and Tk features. My friends provided support and encouragement and said: “Ooh! Aaah!” at just the right times.

I would be remiss if I failed to thank my wife. Kelly gave me the space and time to work on the book that I would otherwise have spent with her. She also told me not to stay up too late working on the book, advice I would have done well to heed. Poots the cat provided needed comic relief and company at 2:00 a.m.

All the support and assistance notwithstanding, I take full responsibility for any errors and mistakes that remain.