Acknowledgments

It’s customary for authors to thank everyone who has even remotely touched their book and offer platitudes about the invaluable contributions these people have made.

In the case of this book, there is no false modesty. I genuinely have to thank a great many folk who have helped make it possible. The volume of feedback I received shaped the book and made it far more useful than it would have been otherwise.

I want to start by thanking my unofficial editor, my beautiful wife, Jessica. She put in countless hours helping me refine my message and providing me with endless support and patience as I worked on each chapter. Without her, this book would be a lot less clear.

I must thank the whole team at the Pragmatic Bookshelf, in particular my editor, Mike Swaine, for his insightful suggestions and for demanding nothing but the utmost quality from me throughout the writing of this book, both in its original incarnation and in this revised second edition; my publisher, Andy Hunt, for believing in this project from the very beginning; my managing editor, Susan Conant, for providing important advice on the development of the book from its earliest stages onward; my production manager, Janet Furlow, for ensuring the book would end up in your hands as a polished product; and last but not least, Gilson Graphics, for withstanding my incessant search for the perfect cover.

Between the first and second edition, I was privileged to have a team of world-class technical reviewers who cannot be thanked enough for their contributions. The impressive list includes Andy Lester, Brian Hogan, Dan Wohlbruck, Derek Sivers, Giles Bowkett, Gregg Pollack, Ian Dees, Ilya Grigorik, Jeff Langr, Johanna Rothman, John C. Dvorak, Kent Beck, Lukas Mathis, Patrick McKenzie, Peter Cooper, Satish Talim, Scott Mace, Sebastian Marshall, Steve Yegge, Susan Visser, and Thom Hogan.

My list of informal reviewers—a small group of family, friends, and colleagues who read early drafts—must also be thanked for their feedback and support. In particular, I wish to thank Lynn Schill, Bradley Steinfeld, Davide Varvello, Henrique Zambon, Kalid Azad, Laurent Sansonetti, Leon Katsnelson, Ludovico Magnocavallo, Marco Beri, Marius Butuc, Ninh Bui, Piergiuliano Bossi, and Rav Ahuja.

Finally, I’d like to thank the customers who purchased the first edition and beta versions of this book. Their detailed feedback, suggestions, encouragement, and early success (having put the advice in this book into practice) motivated me to keep going. In particular, I’d like to acknowledge Paul Cochrane for his suggestions during the beta of this second edition.

For allowing me to create a relentlessly useful book I’m proud to put my name on, all these people have my sincere respect and gratitude.