Show Contents Previous Page Next Page Preface This book was a bear to write, a pachyderm to edit, and a mule to get delivered on time. However, our technical reviewers were angels throughout, patiently helping us to get the details right and to transform the manuscript from a beastly beast into a well-groomed animal. We hope the end product justifies the image that graces its cover. Two of our reviewers must be singled out from the crowd for their extra efforts. Andrew Ford, for his amazingly concise mod_perl Quick Reference Card, and Gerald Richter, for contributing the appendix on Embperl. Our other technical reviewers, in no particular order, were Manoj Kasichainula, Jon Orwant, Mike Stok, Randal Schwartz, Mike Fletcher, Eric Cholet, Frank Cringle, Gisle Aas, Stephen Reppucci, Doug Bagley, Jim "Woody" Woodgate, Howard Jones, Brian W. Fitzpatrick, Andreas Koenig, Brian Moseley, Mike Wertheim, Stas Bekman, Ask Bjoern Hansen, Jason Riedy, Nathan Torkington, Travis Broughton, Jeff Rowe, Eugenia Harris, Ken Coar, Ralf Engelschall, Vivek Khera, and Mark-Jason Dominus. Thank you, one and all. Our editor, Linda Mui, was delightful to work with and should be a model for book editors everywhere. How she could continue to radiate an aura of calm collectedness when the book was already running three months behind schedule and showing continuing signs of slippage is beyond our ken. Her suggestions were insightful, and her edits were always right on the money. Kudos also to Rob Romano, the O'Reilly illustrator whose artwork appears in Chapters 3 and 6.
Lincoln would like to thank his coauthor, Doug, whose Lincoln also wishes to extend his personal gratitude to his wife, Jean, who put up with his getting up at 5:30 every morning to write. The book might have gotten done a bit earlier if she hadn't always been there to lure him back to bed, but it wouldn't have been half as much fun. Doug would like to thank his coauthor, Lincoln, for proposing the idea of this book and making it come to life, in every aspect of the word. Lincoln's writing tools, his "scalpel" and "magic wand" as Doug often called them, shaped this book into a form far beyond Doug's highest expectations. Doug would also like to thank his family, his friends, and his girlfriend for patiently putting up with months of "Sorry, I can't, I have to work on the book." Even though the book may have been finished sooner, Doug is glad they didn't always accept no for an answer. Otherwise, he may have forgotten there is more to life than book writing! Finally we'd like to thank everyone on the modperl@apache.org mailing list for their enthusiastic support, technical fixes, and fresh ideas throughout the process. This book is our gift to you in return for your many gifts to us.
Lincoln Stein and Doug MacEachern Copyright © 1999 by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. |
