Acknowledgments

Writing this book took a long time. A big thank you to my colleagues and friends Alan Buist, Lorena Earle, and John Johnston, who made sure of my technical accuracy. They are my tres amigos and have always been my sounding board.

Thank you to Bob Kern, who got the ball rolling and followed through to the end in getting this book to print.

Thank you to Myra Strauss, whose confidence in me was humbling.

Thank you to Maria Santiago for the funny illustrations depicting the hilarious (and often weird) side of systems development.

And, of course, the biggest thank you to all I have met and taught along the way, reaffirming my belief in and passion for what I do.