Lisa

First of all, thanks for the people who got me into Extreme Programming to begin with, my first terrific XP team, at Tensegrent: John Sims, Steve Graese, Kevin Blankenship, Steve Strobel, Steve Collins, Natraj Kini, Peter Gumeson, Jason Kay, Bryan Uegawachi, John VanSant, Russ Heithoff, and Brock Norvell.

Thanks to Kent Beck, Ron Jeffries, and Brian Marick, who encouraged me when I had the idea to write this book, helped us get started on it, and who (in the case of Ron and Kent) have never given up in trying to get me to really "get" XP. I never met a nicer, more accessible and helpful bunch of "gurus" than the Extremos, including Bob Martin, Ward Cunningham, and many others.

Gigantic thanks to the reviewers of our book, all through its life cycle, for their feedback and especially for their support and encouragement. Many of you are quoted or paraphrased in this book. Ron Jeffries, our muse, thank you for all the time and effort I hope you think it paid off. Mike Clark and Janet Gregory, I didn't even know you when you started reviewing the early drafts, yet you spent so much time and gave us such great feedback and real-world examples, which we naturally stole for the book. Special thanks also to reviewers Rick Craig, David Gelperin, and Ron, and to Brian Marick, who wasn't an official reviewer but read both early and late drafts and gave invaluable input.

A thousand thanks as well to all who read early drafts and contributed to shaping the book: Bill Wake, Andy Tinkham, Anko Tijman, Willem van den Ende, Darryl Fortunato, Marcus Makaiwi, Lynne Christensen, Jef Knutson, and all those I've forgotten to name. To all the folks posting on the agile-testing mailing list who made me think, such as Cem Kaner, Bret Pettichord, Stefan Steurs, and many others, your challenges and ideas made this a better book.

Thanks to my XP team coworkers, from whom I learned so much, at BoldTech Systems. My experiences there provided many of the helpful examples in this book.

Mike Hendrickson and Ross Venables of Addison-Wesley, I still can't believe you wanted to publish this book thanks for this wonderful opportunity and your infinite patience.

Deborah Krinitzsky, thanks for your help with the road trip, thanks to you and Joan Dunn for your support! Thanks to Melody Soell for the great learning-to-drive story.

Tip is the real brains behind this book. There might have been a book without Tip, but it would have been pretty lame. All the cool ideas are his. He provided all the infrastructure, too, including www.xptester.org. He wrote all the hardest parts of the book and made it fun! Everything I know about test automation, I learned from Tip. I wish he could teach me to turn wood and play the banjo, too. I'm privileged to cowrite a book with one of the smartest and most talented people I know.

How can I even begin to thank my wonderful, smart, and multitalented mom, Beth Crispin, for all she's done for me? And my amazing dad, Andre Crispin, who is also always an inspiration. I'm so proud to be their kid, I hope I've made them proud too. I'm infamous for interrupting ceremonies to tell my whole family I love them, so here's to all the Crispins, Heffernans, Sankeys, Gaxiolas, Downings, Guinns, Hammons, Moores, McDonalds, and Williamsons. Thanks to my Aunt Dovie, one of my role models. Thanks to Elise, for helping me be strong.

Thanks to all my terrific friends and neighbors for support and understanding. I apologize for the times I ignored you because I was writing. Thanks for not saying, "You're still working on that book?" Anna Blake, I couldn't have gotten through this book-writing time without all those inspiring rides on Dodger and Spirit. Thanks to my book club, the Women Who Read Too Much and the Dogs Who Love Them, for thinking it was cool that I'm writing a book, even one we'll never read together! I can't name all my friends without forgetting and thus offending someone, so consider yourselves all appreci-ated and acknowledged. I wouldn't be who I am without you. You know who you are.

Most of all, infinite thanks to my wonderful husband, Bob Downing, for taking care of me, our beloved pets, and our homestead uncomplainingly, providing me such a beautiful place to work, loving me even when I was crabby and stressed out, gently encouraging me to work on the book every day, cooking such tasty moules (which he can't stand) for me during the crunch days and nights of winding up the book. For believing in me and for brewing all that delicious wheat beer just for me thanks, honey! And you were right, dear!