First and foremost, I need to thank my family. Without their support and patience, I would never be able to work on projects like this.

This edition was more special than most, in that it left me with an unusual sense of pride as well as a realization of how long the road has been. When I wrote my first book, I dedicated it to my still-baking-in-the-oven oldest daughter. Now, she has enough expertise to be my SME and first proofreader for the programming chapter. She can code circles around me, and I’m proud of her (and my other kids too!).

They say it takes a village to produce a book, and it always amazes me at the number of people who are involved. I have been fortunate to work with a great Sybex crew yet again. Gary Schwartz was the development editor. Thanks, Gary, for keeping me on track and answering all of my mundane questions. Kenyon Brown was the acquisitions editor for this book—thank you, Kenyon, for asking me to take on this book.

In addition, Christine O’Connor was an excellent production editor; I appreciate her professionalism and pragmatism. Jon Buhagiar and Chris Crayton were my technical editors—thank you both for all of your ideas; you really made this book better. To Kim Wimpsett, the copy editor, thank you so much for dealing with my consistent grammar mistakes. I may not have the best grammar, but at least I am consistent about it!