Acknowledgments

This book would never have been started, much less finished, without the inspiration, initiative, and support of my wonderful wife, Patricia. When we couldn’t find a suitable book to feed Carter’s keen interest in learning about programming, she said, “You should write one. It would be a great project for you two to work on together.” As is often the case, she was right. Patricia has a way of bringing out the best in people. So Carter and I started thinking about what would be in such a book, writing chapter outlines and sample programs, and finding ways to make it fun and interesting. Once we got started, Carter and Patricia made sure we finished. Carter would give up bedtime stories to work on the book. And if we didn’t work on it for a while, I would be reminded, “Daddy, we haven’t worked on the book for days!” Carter and Patricia reminded me that, if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. And all members of the family, including our daughter Kyra, gave up many hours of family time while the book was in progress. I thank all of them for their patience and loving support, which made this book possible.

Writing a manuscript is one thing, getting a book into people’s hands is another. This book would never have been published without the enthusiastic and persistent support of Michael Stephens at Manning Publications. Right from the start, he “got it” and agreed that there was a need for this kind of book. Michael’s steadfast belief in the project and his continued patience in guiding a rookie author through the process were immensely valuable and appreciated. I would also like to say a sincere thank you to all the other folks at Manning who helped make this book happen, in particular Mary Piergies for patiently coordinating all aspects of the production process.

This book would not be the same without Martin Murtonen’s lively and fun illustrations. His work speaks for itself about Martin’s creativity and talent. But what doesn’t show is how great he is to work with. It was a pleasure.

One day, I asked my friend and colleague Sean Cavanagh, “How would you do this in Perl?” Sean said, “I wouldn’t. I would use Python.” So I took the plunge to learn a new programming language. Sean answered many questions when I was learning Python and reviewed early drafts. He also created and maintains the installer. His help is much appreciated.

I would also like to thank the many people who reviewed the book during its development and helped prepare the manuscript: Vibhu Chandreshekar, Pam Colquhoun, Gordon Colquhoun, Dr. Tim Couper, Josh Cronemeyer, Simon Cronemeyer, Kevin Driscoll, Jeffrey Elkner, Ted Felix, David Goodger, Lisa L. Goodyear, Dr. John Grayson, Michelle Hutton, Horst Jens, Andy Judkis, Caiden Kumar, Anthony Linfante, Shannon Madison, Kenneth McDonald, Evan Morris, Prof. Alexander Repenning, André Roberge, Kari J. Stellpflug, Kirby Urner, and Bryan Weingarten

The final result is much better for their efforts.

WARREN SANDE

I would like to thank Martin Murtonen for his exceptional caricature of me, my mom for letting me go on the computer when I was two years old and for coming up with the idea of writing a book, and, most importantly, my dad for all of the effort he put into this book with me and showing me how to program.

CARTER SANDE