Acknowledgments

Writing this book was a challenge. It's no easy feat to balance tutorials, real-world examples, and architectural guidance in a single work, and many times I wished I could focus exclusively on just one of these topics. I could never have finished this book without the help of many others, including the insightful developers on the DevelopMentor lists and the miscellaneous Microsoft architects who took time to answer my questions. I'm happy to report that the .NET community is alive and well sharing tips and undocumented secrets in countless periodicals and books and on Web sites.

I owe a heartfelt thanks to many individuals at Microsoft Press, including Anne Hamilton, who "rescued" the book, and Sally Stickney, who guided it expertly through its Everett revision. This book also had the benefit of expert copyediting from Ina Chang, and no less than three excellent technical reviewers. Terrence Joubert and Ryan Payet provided feedback for the first revision, and Marc Young verified the book for Visual Studio .NET 2003. I'm indebted to all these individuals, as well as numerous others at Microsoft Press who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that indexing, figures, and page settings were successful. In addition, I'd like to thank Lisa Thibault, Linda Bump, and Elise Walter at New Riders, who helped the book make the leap from proposal to its first revision.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents (all four of them) and my loving wife. Without the support of these individuals, nothing would ever get done.