David s Acknowledgments

Ru-Brd

David's Acknowledgments

My wife, Karina, has been instrumental in this book coming to a conclusion, and I am immensely grateful for the role that she plays in my life. Writing "in your spare time" quickly becomes erratic when many other activities vie for your schedule. Karina helped me to manage that schedule, taught me to say "no" in order to make the time needed to make regular progress in the writing process, and above all was amazingly supportive of this project. I thank God every day for her friendship and love.

I'm also tremendously grateful to have been able to work with Nico. Besides his directly visible contributions to the text, his experience and discipline moved us from my pitiful doodling to a well-organized production.

John "Mr. Template" Spicer and Steve "Mr. Overload" Adamczyk are wonderful friends and colleagues, but in my opinion they are (together) also the ultimate authority regarding the core C++ language. They clarified many of the trickier issues described in this book, and should you find an error in the description of a C++ language element, it is almost certainly attributable to my failing to consult with them.

Finally, I want to express my appreciation to those who were supportive of this project without necessarily contributing to it directly (the power of cheer cannot be understated). First, my parents: Their love for me and their encouragement made all the difference. And then there are the numerous friends inquiring: "How is the book going?" They, too, were a source of encouragement: Michael Beckmann, Brett and Julie Beene, Jarran Carr, Simon Chang, Ho and Sarah Cho, Christophe De Dinechin, Ewa Deelman, Neil Eberle, Sassan Hazeghi, Vikram Kumar, Jim and Lindsay Long, R.J. Morgan, Mike Puritano, Ragu Raghavendra, Jim and Phuong Sharp, Gregg Vaughn, and John Wiegley.

Ru-Brd