Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 1. Introduction

Welcome to the Llama book!

This is the third edition of a book that has been enjoyed by half a million readers since 1993. At least, we hope they've enjoyed it. It's a sure thing that we've enjoyed writing it.^[1]

^[1] To be sure, the first edition was written by Randal L. Schwartz, the second by Randal L. Schwartz and Tom Christiansen, and this one by Randal L. Schwartz and Tom Phoenix. So, whenever we say "we" in this edition, we mean those last two. Now, if you're wondering how we can say that we've enjoyed writing it (in the past tense) when we're still on the first page, that's easy: we started at the end, and worked our way backwards. It sounds like a strange way to do it, we know. But, honestly, once we finished writing the index, the rest was hardly any trouble at all.