Acknowledgments

First I would like to thank Sarah Jeffreys who supported me during the long, dark, cold nights while writing this book. Without her support, the book would have been near impossible and for that I will be eternally grateful. I also have a lot to thank my family for, who have supported me no matter how strange the decision or request may have been.

I would also like to thank Red Gate Software for sending me to PDC where I met Jeff and for giving me the opportunity and experience required to write this book.

Many thanks go to the entire U.K. development community for putting up with me while writing this book. They have purchased me beer when required while providing advice on key issues. This also extends to my twitter followers who have heard the late-night comments I made while trying to focus on writing something.

Finally, a huge thank you to Jeff for asking me to co-author this book and his hard work throughout the process.

—Ben Hall

First and foremost I would like to thank my very patient wife Carla, who sat by my side many nights, late into the night at coffee shops and the kitchen table at our house while I worked on this book. Thank you for all the support, patience, and understanding you have provided.

Throughout the past few years I have had the opportunity to attend hundreds of conferences and user groups targeted at software developers. It was at these events that I was able to meet thousands of developers and learn new things from everyone I met. I would like to thank the organizers of these events, especially the events held within the Microsoft Heartland district. I have had the opportunity to work with so many of you at your events, and I am always impressed at the passion that each and every one of you put into your events. A special thank you goes to all the members of the Greater Lansing User Group for .NET (GLUG.net), my local user group who I have the most interaction with.

Many thanks go to Corey Haines, not only for his invaluable assistance with what should and should not be included in this book, but for his views on life and programming practices. Thank you to Dennis Burton, Jay Harris, Tony Bihn, and Jordan Cobb for helping me with security, load testing, and other random testing questions.

Thank you to the staff at Web Ascender — Ryan Doom, Kevin Southworth, Mike Pardo, and Kyle Schebor — who listened to status updates about this book in the daily stand-up meetings and for answering questions about testing that appeared to come out of nowhere. Special thanks to Matt Hall and Amelia Marshall who helped with the accessibility chapter and any questions that came up about CSS, HTML, or good design. Thanks to Julie Smith and Doug Parsons and the other editors that helped clean up our mistakes; and lastly I would like to thank Ben. Not only have I gained a very valuable colleague, I have made a friend for life.

—Jeff McWherter