I needed support and inspiration from family, friends, and colleagues to write this book. Unfortunately, I did not always acknowledge their contributions when they offered them. Here is a delayed thanks to all of those who helped me.

Thanks to Donna, my wife, who convinced me that I could actually do this, and to my kids, Ava and Gordon, who have always supported my crazy schemes, even though they know it means fewer coffees and chess matches together.

Andy King encouraged me to find a publisher for this project, and Daniel Stenberg, founder of the cURL project, helped me organize my thoughts when this book was barely an outline.

No Starch Press exhibited saint-like patience while I split my time between writing webbots and writing about webbots. Special thanks to Bill, who trusted the concept, Tyler, who edited most of the manuscript, and Christina, who kept me on task. Peter MacIntyre was instrumental in checking for technical errors, and Megan's copyediting improved the book throughout.

Anamika Mishra assisted with the book's website and consistently covered for me when I was busy writing or too tired to code.

Laurie Curtis helped me explore what it might be like to finish a book.

Finally, a tip of the hat goes to Mark, Randy, Megan, Karen, Terri, Susan, Dennis, Dan, and Matt, who were thoughtful enough to ask about my book's progress before inquiring about the status of their projects.