Acknowledgments

Chuck Cavaness I would like to give thanks to the many people who participated in the process of putting this book together. The act of writing the content for a book is so very important, but is such a small part of putting it together.

I would like to thank the entire editorial staff led by Victoria Elzey, who provided the necessary prodding and poking to ensure that the work was of quality and on time.

I imagine that Victoria's technical vocabulary must have increased 100-fold with all the great questions and deep curiosity that she exhibited during the editing process. I can also imagine Sun's technical support calls will drop by half now that you don't have to call them to help clarify anything.

A special thanks needs to be given to the technical editors who kept me in line and on target and provided enough suggestions to almost fill another entire book. I appreciate the work you have done to increase the quality of the material and give the reader more insight.

Finally, I owe a special debt to my family, who had to put up with the long hours with me off in a room with the door closed. The support that you have provided me is dearly appreciated.

Geoff Friesen My contribution to this book represents the culmination of a long journey into the realm of computer technology ”a journey that began 20 years ago. Along the way, I've been privileged to meet many people who've been a source of inspiration. This is my way of saying thanks.

Many thanks to my parents, my sister, and her family. I hope you enjoy this book (even if you only think of Java as coffee).

Back in my university days, I was fortunate to be taught by two excellent professors: Dr. George E. McMaster and Dr. Gwynfor Richards. Thanks for your inspiration, and for teaching me about the need to achieve excellence in computer programming. (By the way, I don't throw chalk at my students; they might throw chalk brushes back at me.)

My sincere thanks goes to a very classy lady by the name of Yvonne Baert, who secured my Java teaching position at a local college. Even though I've been contacted by other IT recruiters, you'll always be the number one IT recruiter in my books!

Many other people have been an inspiration to me. They include Jerry Goebel, Chris Goudy, Glen Beer, Helen Stroud, Chris Stroud, Dave Stearns, David Fisher, Diana Smith, Hilda Sydor, Clark Sydor, Eileen Miller, Belinda Jeanne Teichgrab, Lorne Cooper, Pastor and Mrs. Joe MacDonald, Steven and Shannon MacDonald, Carol Wilkinson, Mark and Tamara Stropko, Ted and Sheila Vidler, Dino and Shannon Sylvestri, Jane Eidse, Pierre Cho, Chris Ashley, Yolande Cates, Manuel Santos, Robert Lapensee, Jack Stephenson, Marc Caron, Robert Paquin, and the late Father Lucian Kemble.

Finally, I would like to thank Todd Green, my editor for Java 2 by Example and this book. I appreciate all your patience with me, especially in light of my tendency to miss deadlines.

Brian Keeton I first want to thank my NetVendor colleague Chuck Cavaness, and Todd Green, our acquisitions editor at Que, for getting me involved in this project. Contributing to this book has been an experience I would never want to have missed. A special note of gratitude also goes to Joe Weber and Mark Wutka for their work on the previous edition that served as a solid foundation for this effort. I have great respect for your ability to create from a blank page.

Much of the credit for this final product goes to the editors who helped turn my drafts into what you'll find in my chapters that follow. Victoria Elzey led the way with her big-picture insight that allowed her to skillfully merge the contributions of three authors into one cohesive work. Also, Julie McNamee's keen eye for grammar and consistency was a tremendous help (I hope to never again say may when I should have said might ). For the clarity of the text and the quality of the examples, I owe much to the technical editors. I especially want to thank Alan Moffet for the insights he provided and his attention to detail.

Most importantly, I want to thank my wife Rebeccah for her support and patience through these long hours. You're the best!