Acknowledgments

First, I want say what a blessing it was to be able to write this book. I am very thankful for the time and privilege. I am truly thankful to the Lord, my savior, for making this all possible.

Thanks to Mae and Jeff for direction and guidance throughout the writing of this book. Sarah, your edits and suggestions greatly improved this book and made my job much easier. Thanks to Ashok Hanumanth and Robert Wahl for the technical edits and reviews, which enhanced the quality of this writing—greatly.

Finally, I want to thank my wife Cathy, my son Brant, and my daughter Brea for allowing me the time to work on this book. It has been greatly appreciated.

—Doug Stuns

I would like to thank the following people, without whom I would not have been able to accomplish this:

To Jeff Kellum and Mae Lum at Sybex, for giving me a chance (and being patient with me) as a new author. To Matt Weishan for recommending me to Sybex. To Matt Hall, Gary Brite, Barry Trout, Jerry Dennington, and Mark Moehling for helping me in my DBA career, and in my life. To Barry Heck and Steve Kell, two of the smartest DBAs I know, for answering all of my stupid questions. But above all, to my wife and kids, for remembering who I was when I came out from behind the laptop.

—Tim Buterbaugh

This book wouldn't be possible without the love and support from my family throughout the long nights and weekends when I still managed to find time to help the kids with their homework before bedtime. I loved every minute of it.

Thanks also to my professional colleagues, both past and present, who provided me with inspiration, support, and guidance and who pushed me a little further to take a risk now and then, starting with that math teacher in high school, whose name eludes me at the moment, who introduced me to computers on a DEC PDP-8 with a teletype and a paper tape reader.

—Bob Bryla