0.8.1. Tom

I would like to thank Larry Wall for making the programming world (and several others) a better place for all of us, Nathan for documenting the undocumented, and our editor, Linda Mui, for her indefatigable patience at herding her author cats of the Schrödinger clan ever onward. This book would not exist but for all three of them.

I would especially like to thank someone who is no longer here to read these words in print, words he would otherwise himself have shepherded: O'Reilly's longtime editor-in-chief and my friend, Frank Willison, gone from us two years now. His many erudite epistles are a thing of legend, carefully crafted treasures more dear to any writer than finest gold. Over our years of working together, Frank was a constant source of personal inspiration and encouragement. His easygoing cheer and charm, his broad learning and interests, and his sparkling wit—sometimes subtle, sometimes hilarious, and often both—made him more deserving of being called avuncular than anyone else I have ever known, and as such do I miss him. Thank you, Frank, wherever you are.

0.8.2. Nat

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "What is commonly called friendship is only a little more honor among rogues." If that be true, I have two honorable rogues to thank: Jon Orwant, who engineered my job at O'Reilly & Associates; and Linda Mui, who helped me keep it.

As with the first edition, the book in your hands wouldn't be there without Tom's drive, attention to detail, and willingness to tackle the hard stuff. Thanks for taking the Unicode bullet, Tom.

And finally, my family. Jenine nearly became a solo parent while I worked on this book. My heart broke when William sadly told a friend, "My daddy works and works—all day and all night," and again when one of Raley's first two-word sentences was "Daddy work." Thank you all.