Acknowledgments

   

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An endeavor of this magnitude is never accomplished in isolation. I am deeply indebted to a number of people, notably:

• My editors Karen Gettman and Emily Frey. They believed in me to begin with and held their belief through thick and thin, as I made my sometimes successful attempts at keeping to a schedule and as I struggled to get my ideas across in a consistent and proper fashion.

• Tom Clark, who was instrumental in helping me sell the idea for the book and rendered other invaluable assistance as well.

• The technical reviewers ”James Anderson, Ellen Beck Gardner, Robert Griswold, Varina Hammond, Milan J. Merhar, Bob Snead, and Richard Wheeler ”who appreciated the diamond in the rough and helped me polish the contents until they were often unrecognizable from the raw content with which I had begun.

• Developmental editor Laurie McGuire.

• Copy editor Stephanie Hiebert.

• Jeff Goldner and Karan Mehra at Microsoft, who provided invaluable feedback and encouragement.

• And last, but not least, my family. My wife Varsha, who for months on end put up with typing away on my lap, my IBM Thinkpad. My son Nihar and my daughter Riti, who put up with the odd dad who brought a laptop to soccer and basketball games and practices.

Thank you, all of you!

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