Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Java Database Best Practices is a taguan. The taguan (Petaurista petaurista) is giant flying squirrel. It lives in dense, tropical rainforests, ranging from the eastern regions of Afghanistan to Java, and from Kashmir, Taiwan, and southern China to Sri Lanka. It is most often found in the Pakistan's temperate forests.

The squirrel conceals its nest in the cavity of a tree, raising 2-3 young at a time. It has a lifespan of approximately 16 years. It is a nocturnal animal, recognizable by its big eyes and reddish color. The taguan consumes a diet of pine cones, fruit, leaves, and nuts.

The taguan is an excellent climber. Additionally, it is referred to as a "flying" squirrel because of the muscular membrane that extends from its wrists to its hind legs, enabling it to glide long distances. It leaps from high tree branches and the tops of trees, controlling the direction of its flight by flexing and relaxing the muscles of the membrane.

Colleen Gorman was the production editor, and Norma Emory was the copyeditor for Java Database Best Practices . Linley Dolby and Jane Ellin provided quality control. Angela Howard wrote the index.

Emma Colby designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from Animate Creation, Volume II. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Joe Wizda to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Colleen Gorman.

The online edition of this book was created by the Safari production group (John Chodacki, Becki Maisch, and Madeleine Newell) using a set of Frame-to-XML conversion and cleanup tools written and maintained by Erik Ray, Benn Salter, John Chodacki, and Jeff Liggett.