Colophon

Colophon

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 animals on the cover of Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart are moor frogs (Rana arvalis). The moor frog is one of only six frog species found in Europe and one of only three found north of the Arctic Circle. Despite their broad distribution, which extends from central Europe to northern Balkan and even up to the Ural Mountains in Russia, they are one of the rarest frogs in Europe.

Moor frogs thrive in bogs, alder marshlands, and inshore waters. They hibernate at the bottom of pools or on dry land in rotten woodpiles or in piles of rotting leaves. In early spring, once the ice and frost have melted, they reappear for the mating season. Mating takes places in the water, with eager males assembling in anticipation before the females arrive. During the height of the breeding period, males turn bright blue because of the high concentration of lymph underneath their skin. The incessant mating call which has been compared to the sound of air escaping from an empty, submerged bottle reveals the male's excitement.

The bright blue skin, characteristic of the mating season, is a marked difference from their usual appearance; color and patterns vary greatly from uniform brown to black blotches. Although moor frogs bear a strong resemblance to common frogs, they often have a pale vertebral stripe running from the snout to the cloaca that helps to distinguish them. Also, male and female moor frogs average in size between 4 8 cm, while common frogs average 10 cm.

Earthworms, flies, beetles, butterflies, and ants are among some of the species that comprise the moor frog's diet. They also have been known to dine on snails swallowing them whole or cracking the shell in their mouths. Some of the predators they have to worry about include cyprinid fish, grass snakes, storks, fox, and hedges. If a moor frog feels threatened while on dry land, he will first make a long, high jump, and then burrow in soil or beneath a clump of grass.

Adam Witwer was the production editor and Linley Dolby was the copyeditor for Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart. Jeffrey Liggett proofread the text. Abby Fox, Genevieve d'Entremont, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Judy Hoer wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is from the Library of Natural History. Karen Montgomery produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Keith Fahlgren to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia Free-Hand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Loranah Dimant.