Acknowledgments

Every book is a prodigious effort that could never be accomplished by the author alone. I would first like to thank my wife Stacy LeBaron and daughter Rachel, who have patiently and sympathetically waited for me to emerge from what has seemed, to them, a never-ending process of word- and code-crunching. Next I would like to gratefully acknowledge Anne and Robert Perry, my parents, who have instilled in me a love of books and the intellectual discipline it takes to digest and write them. The O'Reilly team has been indispensable: my editors Simon Hayes, for his insightful nudging and prodding when I first proposed the project, and the tireless efforts of Troy Mott and Bob Herbstman as the book entered the final production stages.

Chris Stone at O'Reilly also has made tremendous contributions to the shaping of this book. Thanks to Bill Cheeseman and Paul Berkowitz for helpful technical reviews of several chapters. Finally, I would also like to acknowledge all the AppleScript experts and engineers at Apple Computer who took time out from their busy schedules to comment on this book.