Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the many people who helped make this book possible.

From Mike

Writing this book has been quite an experience, and it was made possible only by the efforts and support of the people I worked with. My editor, Chuck Toporek, put in a lot of time on this book and kept this first-time author on course and in the right frame of mind with his kind words of encouragement and level-headed advice. He has become a good friend over the past year that we've worked together on this project.

I am grateful to Duncan for his efforts in helping me shape up the book and for contributing the material on Objective-C. Duncan is quite a person to work with, and I look forward to working with him on this book in the future. Any success of this book is due in no small part to both Chuck and Duncan. These two make a great team, and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with them.

Thanks to the tech reviewers: Scott Anguish, Sherm Pendley, and the engineers and technical writers at Apple who were kind enough to take time out of their busy lives to review the book. Special thanks go to Malcolm Crawford for going above and beyond the call of duty by providing in-depth comments and suggestions and working closely with us to give the book its final polish. His upbeat attitude and British charm helped us all bring this book to completion.

Derrick Story at the O'Reilly Network took an amazing chance with me by letting me write about Cocoa for www.macdevcenter.com, which gave me the opportunity to get my foot in the door when I was least expecting it. Why he did this baffles me to this day, but I am grateful for it and for his encouragement over the past two years.

Ryan Dionne introduced me to Macs when we were freshman at UT Austin, and he quickly changed my attitude about them (I was a switcher before switching was fashionable). Shortly after that, John Keto of the University of Texas, my teacher and employer, was tricked, by some of the grad students I worked with, into believing that I was some sort of Linux and C guru; let's just say that I quickly became one! I suppose that if either of these things hadn't happened, you wouldn't be reading this acknowledgment. Life's funny sometimes.

All remaining thanks, and all that I am, go to my family and my friends: Mom and Dad, for the love, encouragement, and support during the whole process; my sisters Kristin and Jennifer; and my future parents-in-law, Bill and Lauren, for their love and support; Ryan, Paige, and Tommy for putting up with me and my antisocial behaviors during the past year, and for always having an eye on me and knowing when I needed to get some lunch. As always, my love and appreciation to my fiancée, Heather, (until July 2003!) for being incredibly patient, supportive, and caring during the past year.

From Duncan

I'd like to thank Mike and Chuck for letting me contribute Chapter 1 to the book. They were both very patient and attentive to all of the feedback I contributed to the rest of the book, even when they must have become annoyed by all my suggestions. Chuck, you're a great editor and you've helped me develop as an author, a skill that I never thought I'd have. Mike, I'm honored to have helped you with this book, and I look forward to working with you on it again in the future.

mmalcolm Crawford provided an invaluable service by checking the Objective-C chapter, as well as the rest of the book, in detail, and he really helped shape it into the what you see today. His dinner table discussions, and plenty of red ink stemming from many years of experience, have illuminated several areas of Cocoa and Objective-C for me. This book would not be the book it is without his valuable help.

Finally, thanks to my family and friends who put up with me disappearing during the crunch time leading up to the production of this book. You guys know who you are.