Acknowledgments

When I decided to undertake this project, I wasn’t prepared for just how difficult it is to actually write a book. As I look back on the amount of time and effort it took, I realize that, although I was the one responsible for writing the content, I couldn’t have done it without the help and support of others. First, I need to thank Brook for giving me the idea of writing this book for Sams Publishing in the first place and taking the chance on a new author. The rest of the editors at Sams, without whom the book would never have been published, were also great to work with. I also want to thank Keith Elder, Shawn Weisfeld, Brad Abrams, and Krzysztof Cwalina for their early input on the table of contents and helping me focus the content and overall direction of the book. My technical editors, Claudio and Eric, also deserve a huge amount of thanks; they have both provided an incredible amount of comments and insight. Of course, without the entire C#, .NET Framework, and Visual Studio product teams, I wouldn’t have anything to write about in the first place.

I wrote this book for the development community, which has given so much to me. Without its encouragement and support, I wouldn’t have been in a position to write this book at all. This includes everyone associated with the Microsoft MVP program and the Microsoft field evangelists, particularly Joe “devfish” Healy, Jeff Barnes, and Russ “ToolShed” Fustino.

Finally, of course, I have to thank my family for being so patient and understanding of the many long nights and weekends it took to finish this book. Although Nathan is too young right now to understand why I spent so much time on the computer rather than playing with him, I hope he will appreciate it as he gets older. The biggest thing it did was introduce him to computers at a very early age, as at 21 months old, he received his first laptop (an old IBM ThinkPad 770 that was collecting dust). To my stepson, Patrick, thank you for understanding all the canceled amusement park plans. Last, but certainly not least, thank you Erin for your support and patience. I know you are happy that everything is done and I can start having more family time.