Acknowledgments

Writing this Acknowledgments section has been on my mind since I began developing this book, and personally signifies a euphoric end of a challenging journey, one that I cannot wait to embark on again. I have spent countless days and nights trying to strike a balance between my personal technical thoughts on WebLogic Platform, what I feel the reader needs to learn and how, and what I am exactly scribing. When I get this balance correctly aligned to be productive, regardless of the many hours I spent formulating a sentence , paragraph, or chapter, I feel thrilled that I am sharing my technical knowledge with others.

Getting this book completed has involved a true teamwork effort as well as an unquestionable amount of commitment and support from many people. I would personally like to show appreciation to the following people who were not only the driving force behind this book, but also the technical inspiration I needed to deliver a quality product:

Loretta Yates (acquisitions editor at Sams Publishing), who championed this book from its inception to production through all types of terrain. Loretta, thank you for believing in me from day one.

Sean Dixon (development editor at Sams Publishing), who provided incredible guidance and support to ensure that the content of this book is extremely fluent and comprehensible. Sean, you are the reason why this book is as good as it is.

Amy Chandi, who painstakingly technically proofed every chapter before submission, day or night, to ensure that the content made sense and was palatable to the audience. Amy, seeing your dedication to this book inspired me in more ways than I can express.

Brian McNamara (BEA Systems), who took a personal interest in ensuring I delivered a quality book and was connected with the right people at BEA Systems. Brian, you know exactly how much you helped me ”need I say more?

Helen Semus (BEA Systems), who was the primary technical editor involved in this book. Helen, without a doubt, you made a positive difference to the technical integrity and quality of this book. I need your involvement in some capacity in every book I author, for sure.

Brian Mulloy and Diana Reid (BEA Systems), who provided valuable technical and marketing insights into the product direction of WebLogic Platform, including WebLogic Server. Brian, I owe you a Mohito.

Pat Shepherd (BEA Systems), who reviewed the most demanding technical chapters before submission to ensure that even WebLogic Server experts would benefit from reading them. Pat, thank you for all your technical input and personal guidance in writing this book.

Jimmy Oyeniyi (BEA Systems), who provided the technical resources I needed to develop the chapters in this book. Jimmy, trust me when I say you were a godsend in writing this book.

Mihir Kulkarni, Kumar Allamraju, and Gerald Barker, who individually co- authored a few chapters for me. Thank you for accepting the invitation to be involved in this book and delivering the chapters under extreme pressure. Your technical knowledge on J2EE and WebLogic Server was an asset to this book.

Tim Boyle and Vimala Ranganathan (BEA Systems), who assisted me in resolving the technical roadblocks I encountered in developing examples demonstrating the capabilities of WebLogic Server.

Lee Ann Youngblood (Borland), who courteously supplied the software licenses for the Together ControlCenter.

My fellow co-authors Bernard, Peter, Scott, and Manish, who passionately contributed to this book. I hope you all know that this book would not have been possible without you.

My dear friends, Pat Mohyde, Steve O Toole, Tamas Knecht, and Seymour Cowboy, who collectively made my life entertaining during the book-writing process. You are the best friends to have during any life crisis, for sure. Now who is going to host the book party?

Jatinder Prem