Youll find lots of stories in this book, for Ive asked some of my most successful colleagues to outline their upward path . Since all of their paths involved a mixture of audacity, talent, ingenuity, and perseverance ; I find their tales compelling. My friends and I consider our careers stimulating, rewarding , and actually very easy, because we selected (or fell into) a field we liked , one that was in great demand, and one for which we have not only aptitude butjust as importantthe appropriate temperament. I have had the privilege of working with some genius-level programmers who carried me up on their way to the top. And I could not have flourished as a corporate programmers without a nearly unbroken string of excellent and caring programming managers.