Introduction

This book has the unfortunate burden of serving a diverse set of audiences. We realize that this book might appeal to both experienced Java programmers who are new to Linux, and to experienced Linux programmers who are new to Java, with all possible shadings in between.

In addition to balancing these two poles, we are also trying to strike a balance between the size of the book and the range of our topic. Fortunately, there is today quite a range of both book and Web publishing on both Java and Linux, so we are able to do our best within the limits of a book a normal person may lift, and we can make recourse to a number of outside references you might wish to use to supplement our efforts.