Acknowledgments

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The first set of people I want to thank are the readers of my "Bugslayer" column in Microsoft Systems Journal and the people who have come to hear me speak at various development conferences. Not only have you inspired me to write this book, but you've also, through our e-mail exchanges and conversations, taught me a great deal about software development. Additionally, you've contributed to my becoming a much better developer with your attentiveness to my code—trust me, I know how much joy you get out of telling me about bugs in my programs!

Two people whose names deserve to be on the cover of this book are Sally Stickney (project editor) and Marc Young (technical editor) from Microsoft Press. They did a truly outstanding job making this book readable and correct. I can't thank them enough. I promise never to use "this" or "it" without a clear antecedent again.

A group of friends who earned my eternal gratitude is my "Review Crew." Most books are seen by only a couple of people while the author is writing, but this book had the benefit of my entire Review Crew, who read all the chapters, corrected many mistakes, and suggested some of the coolest debugging tricks in the world. Not only are the Review Crew developers the best in the business today, but they are also the ones who taught me how to develop and debug. Here's the lineup: Jim Austin, Jim Harris, Peter Ierardi, Kevin Kelly, John Maver, Steve Munyan, Andy Pennell, Matt Pietrek, Jeffrey Richter, Chris Sells, Eric Yanco, and Tim Yuhl. Many of the good tips in the book belong to them; all the mistakes are mine. I also deeply appreciate the wonderful quotes from them at the front of the book.

I'd also like to extend special thanks to the following people:

• Some wonderful folks at NuMega, who taught me many things about developing software and contributed in numerous ways to this book: Dave Angel, Dom Basile, Frank Grossman, Jon Jesse, Berni McCoy, Farokh Morshed, Jim Moskun, Dave Nanian, Bob Newton, Paul Proulx, Barb Rottenberg, Dave Seidel, and Carol Tyler.
• Matt Pietrek, for letting me watch over his shoulder as we debugged many a problem we encountered developing BoundsChecker and for all the fascinating conversations about Microsoft Windows development and life in general. I also owe Matt for getting me to start writing—he convinced me it wasn't as hard as it looks. (I'm still not sure whether I believe him.) Thanks also to Matt for writing such a wonderful Foreword.
• Ed Sullivan, for showing me by example what a great product manager is supposed to do and for putting up with me even though I probably drove him crazy at times.
• Bob O'Brien, for showing me the other three-quarters of this business—sales, marketing, and public relations—and for being a great person.
• Joe Flanigan, Joanne Steinhart, and the rest of the crew at Microsoft Systems Journal. They took a huge chance letting a guy with no writing experience be their debugging columnist. I've done my best not to let them down.
• Ben Ryan, acquisitions editor at Microsoft Press, and my agent, Claire Horne, for taking care of all the tough details and letting me concentrate on the writing.
• Rob and Doris Robbins, my parents, for a wonderful childhood and for always supporting me no matter what crazy path I took even though I was probably scaring them to death.
• Deborah and Al Matthews, my sister and brother-in-law, and my perfect niece Alison and my perfect nephew Al for the support and for being excited for me even though they had no idea what I was talking about in the book.
• Stan and Lila Bahl, my in-laws, for being fantastic in-laws and actually helping me get started in software development by giving me my first real computer, an AT&T 6300 PC.
• Sergeant Major Frank Knapp and Lori, Ian, and Alex Knapp for taking care of me the whole time I was in the army. You don't know how much that meant to me.

Finally, the biggest thank-you of all goes to my wife, Pam. She believed in me enough to share her life with this book and never complained when I had to work through the evenings and on weekends. She was always there with a hug and a kiss when I needed it most. There's no way you'd be holding this book now if it weren't for her.