Acknowledgments

We thank the team at Manning for their hard work during the process of writing this book. Michael Stephens first contacted us and helped us with the book proposal. Publisher Marjan Bace gave us the opportunity to write the book and provided us with valuable advice about its structure. Karen Tegtmeyer organized the reviews, which resulted in further improvements. Last, but not least, we thank our development editor, Cynthia Kane, who helped us polish our writing and sharpen the book’s focus.

This book is about an open source project, so it would not exist were it not for the efforts of the people who spent their time creating and maintaining Spring Batch. Thanks to the Spring Batch team: Ben Hale, Lucas Ward, Robert Kasanicky, Thomas Risberg, Dan Garrette, Rob Harrop, and, of course, Dave Syer, the project lead, who kindly contributed the foreword to our book. An open source project is also a community project, so thanks to everyone who contributed to the project by answering questions on the forum or by participating in the bug-tracking process. This also helped us to learn more about how people use Spring Batch.

Special thanks to the reviewers who took the time to read the manuscript and make constructive remarks about its content. Their feedback was essential in keeping us on the right track: Cédric Exbrayat, John Ryan, David Sinclair, Deepak Vohra, Antti Koivisto, Doug Warren, John Guthrie, Clarence E. Scates, Rick Wagner, Willhelm Lehman, Ileana Lehman, Benjamin Muschko, Guillaume Perone, Micha Minicki, and Joshua A. White.

Our technical proofreader, Gordon Dickens, helped us produce a more accurate and polished book by carefully reviewing the manuscript one last time shortly before it went to press. Thank you for your contribution, Gordon.

Arnaud Cogoluègnes

I would like to give many thanks to all the people around me for their patience and understanding while I was absorbed in this project. Thank you to my colleagues at Zenika, Carl Azoury and Pierre Queinnec, who supported me. Thanks to all the people who provided input on Spring Batch: Dave Syer, Joris Kuipers, the people on the Spring Batch forum, and everyone with whom I had the pleasure to train on this technology. Thanks to Leonard Cohen: I find your music perfect accompaniment to hours spent working on a book. In addition, thank you, Claire, for your patience putting up with all the long hours I spent on this book.

Thierry Templier

I would like to thank my wife Séverine and our lovely little boy Maël for being by my side in life. I also want to thank all the people who made this project possible and who trusted me, especially my coauthors for their excellent work and advice and the Manning team for their confidence, support, and professionalism. Thanks finally to all people that help me move forward in life and be the best I can be.

Gary Gregory

I’d like to thank my parents for getting me started on my journey, providing me with the opportunity for a great education, and giving me the freedom to choose my path. I’m eternally grateful to my wife Lori and my son Alexander for giving me the time to pursue a project like this one. Along the way, I’ve studied and worked with truly exceptional individuals too numerous to name. My father-in-law, Buddy Martin, deserves a special mention for providing wisdom and insights through great conversations and storytelling born of decades spent writing about sports (Go Gators!). I also found inspiration in the music of Wilco, Donald Fagen, Tom Waits, David Lindley, and Bach. Finally, I thank my coauthors and all of the people at Manning for their support, professionalism, and great feedback.

Olivier Bazoud

Many thanks to Manning’s publisher Marjan Bace and to my coauthors who encouraged me to write this book. Thanks to my mother, my father, and my sister for their love and support over the years. And I would like to thank my wonderful girlfriend Maria for her patience and for giving me a chance to participate in this great adventure.