Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.
The animal on the cover of VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language is a Newfoundland dog, a domesticated breed known for its size and sweet temperament. Newfoundlands, from the island of the same name, are semiaquatic, usually black dogs. They stand about 28 inches tall and weigh around 130-150 pounds.
The Newfoundland, descended from European breeds, has traditionally been used as a working dog, on land and around water, for hunting and fishing. Their large, webbed feet, thick coat, powerful frame, and large lung capacity are well suited for work on ships and around water, as well as for the island's climate. The breed is associated with stories of brave animals making heroic ocean rescues and assisting with shipwrecks. Today, the Newfoundlands' docile nature and calm disposition have made them popular pets.
Mary Anne Weeks Mayo was the copy editor and project manager for VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language. Melanie Wang, Ellie Fountain Maden, Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary, and Sheryl Avruch provided quality control. Mike Sierra provided FrameMaker support and Seth Maislin wrote the index.
Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive modified in Adobe Photoshop. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font.
The inside layout was designed by Nancy Priest and implemented in FrameMaker 5.5 by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were created in Adobe Photoshop 4 and Macromedia FreeHand 7 by Robert Romano. This colophon was written by Nancy Kotary.
The online edition of this book was created by the Safari production group (John Chodacki, Becki Maisch, and Madeleine Newell) using a set of Frame-to-XML conversion and cleanup tools written and maintained by Erik Ray, Benn Salter, John Chodacki, and Jeff Liggett.