Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all of the thousands of people who have answered my endless questions over the years in my quest to become a professional software engineer. Without these anonymous thousands on the Internet, the path would have been much more difficult. I would also like to thank all of the junior programmers that have worked for me and kept my eyes open to new ideas. There is nothing like a fresh mind to suggest things that are radical, untried, and, in the end, brilliant. Certain people leap to mind, such as Bettina Linssen, now a senior developer. Even though I had considered myself something of a guru in Java GUI coding, her fresh insight and ideas taught me a thing or two. All you senior developers out there would be well advised to listen to the ideas of your junior developers. You never know what they might teach you. I would also like to extend very special thanks to Marco Kukulies. Marco started his coding career as a junior developer working for me. He excelled beyond all expectations and demonstrated that he has that special gift that separates the normal programmers from the true gurus. Marco is now one of the best senior developers and architects I know. He has earned my respect, trust, and eternal friendship. Marco reviewed all of my tutorial from a reader's perspective and gave me invaluable advice on what needed to be clarified, expanded on, or removed. I would also like to thank one of my best friends who has little to do with coding but has provided endless moral support to keep me energized and working. Although my friend Sair Husejnovic isn't a programmer, and generally doesn't understand much of my work, without his and Marco Kukulies' moral support, this tutorial simply wouldn't have happened. My deepest respect goes out to these two gentlemen as well as to Sair's wife Mirsada, and his three children Aida, Selma, and Amela. Thanks for being a second family to me! I would like to take a moment to say "Hi" to my brother Paul and my sister Debbie. I currently live in Germany, and although I am very happy living here, I miss my brother and sister greatly. On the publishing side of things, I would like to thank the artists at Oracle who did such a great job with my innumerable diagrams and drawings, not to mention the awesome cover. Also, I can't forget everyone who did such a good job publishing, distributing, and marketing this tutorial. My compliments to you all. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank my editor Brett McLaughlin, who can be found buried under piles of electronic chapters. Just look for the hand reaching up frantically for help. His editing prowess has increased the quality of my work to a level I never knew possible. When I proposed this tutorial to Oracle, it was in a much rougher state than it is now. With many uploaders, I would have been mostly on my own. However, Oracle has really worked hard to help me make this tutorial one that I can be proud of. I have learned a lot, and Brett has truly converted me from a newbie author to a professional.