First of all, thanks to the Doyle Street Cohousing Community for putting up with me for the two years that it took me to write this book (and for putting up with me at all). Thanks very much to Kevin and Sonda Donovan for subletting their great place in gorgeous Crested Butte, Colorado for the summer while I worked on the book. Also thanks to the friendly residents of Crested Butte and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory who made me feel so welcome. The World Gym in Emeryville and its enthusiastic staff helped keep me sane during the final months of the book.

This is my first experience using an agent, and I’m not looking back. Thanks to Claudette Moore at Moore Literary Agency for her tremendous patience and perseverance in getting me exactly what I wanted.

My first two books were published with Jeff Pepper as editor at Osborne/McGraw-Hill. Jeff appeared at the right place and the right time at Prentice-Hall and has cleared the path and made all the right things happen to make this the most pleasant publishing experience I’ve ever had. Thanks, Jeff – it means a lot to me.

I’m especially indebted to Gen Kiyooka and his company Digigami, who have graciously provided my Web server, and to Scott Callaway who has maintained it. This has been an invaluable aid while I was learning about the Web.

Thanks to Cay Horstmann (co-author of Core Java , Prentice Hall 1997 ), D’Arcy Smith (Symantec), and Paul Tyma (co-author of Java Primer Plus , The Waite Group 1996), for helping me clarify concepts in the language.

Thanks to people who have spoken in my Java track at the Software Development Conference, and students in my seminars, who ask the questions I need to hear in order to make the material more clear.

Special thanks to Larry and Tina O’Brien, who turned this book and my seminar into a teaching CD ROM. (You can find out more at http://www.BruceEckel.com.)

Lots of people sent in corrections and I am indebted to them all, but particular thanks go to: Kevin Raulerson (found tons of great bugs), Bob Resendes (simply incredible), John Pinto, Joe Dante, Joe Sharp (all three were fabulous), David Combs (many grammar and clarification corrections), Dr. Robert Stephenson, Franklin Chen, Zev Griner, David Karr, Leander A. Stroschein, Steve Clark, Charles A. Lee, Austin Maher, Dennis P. Roth, Roque Oliveira, Douglas Dunn, Dejan Ristic, Neil Galarneau, David B. Malkovsky, Steve Wilkinson, and a host of others.

There have been a spate of smart technical people in my life who have become friends and have also been both influential and unusual in that they’re vegetarians, do yoga and practice other forms of spiritual enhancement, which I find quite inspirational and instructional. They are Kraig Brockschmidt, Gen Kiyooka and Andrea Provaglio, who helps in the understanding of Java and programming in general in Italy.

It’s not that much of a surprise to me that understanding Delphi helped me understand Java, since there are many concepts and language design decisions in common. My Delphi friends provided assistance by helping me gain insight into that marvelous programming environment. They are Marco Cantu (another Italian – perhaps being steeped in Latin gives one aptitude for programming languages?), Neil Rubenking (who used to do the yoga/vegetarian/Zen thing but discovered computers) and of course Zack Urlocker, a long-time pal whom I’ve traveled the world with.

My friend Richard Hale Shaw’s insights and support have been very helpful (and Kim’s, too). Richard and I spent many months giving seminars together and trying to work out the perfect learning experience for the attendees. Thanks also to KoAnn Vikoren, Eric Faurot, Deborah Sommers, Julie Shaw, Nicole Freeman, Cindy Blair, Barbara Hanscome, Regina Ridley, Alex Dunne, and the rest of the cast and crew at MFI.

The book design, cover design, and cover photo were created by my friend Daniel Will-Harris, noted author and designer ( http://www.Will-Harris.com), who used to play with rub-on letters in junior high school while he awaited the invention of computers and desktop publishing, and complained of me mumbling over my algebra problems. However, I produced the camera-ready pages myself, so the typesetting errors are mine. Microsoft ^® Word 97 for Windows was used to write the book and to create camera-ready pages. The body typeface is Bitstream Carmina and the headlines are in Bitstream Calligraph 421 (www.bitstream.com). The symbols at the start of each chapter are Leonardo Extras from P22 ( http://www.p22.com). The cover typeface is ITC Rennie Mackintosh.

A special thanks to all my teachers and all my students (who are my teachers as well). The most fun writing teacher was Gabrielle Rico (author of Writing the Natural Way , Putnam 1983). I’ll always treasure the terrific week at Esalen.

The supporting cast of friends includes, but is not limited to: Andrew Binstock, Steve Sinofsky, JD Hildebrandt, Tom Keffer, Brian McElhinney, Brinkley Barr, Bill Gates at Midnight Engineering Magazine , Larry Constantine and Lucy Lockwood, Greg Perry, Dan Putterman, Christi Westphal, Gene Wang, Dave Mayer, David Intersimone, Andrea Rosenfield, Claire Sawyers, more Italians (Laura Fallai, Corrado, Ilsa, and Cristina Giustozzi), Chris and Laura Strand, the Almquists, Brad Jerbic, Marilyn Cvitanic, the Mabrys, the Haflingers, the Pollocks, Peter Vinci, the Robbins Families, the Moelter Families (and the McMillans), Michael Wilk, Dave Stoner, Laurie Adams, the Cranstons, Larry Fogg, Mike and Karen Sequeira, Gary Entsminger and Allison Brody, Kevin Donovan and Sonda Eastlack, Chester and Shannon Andersen, Joe Lordi, Dave and Brenda Bartlett, David Lee, the Rentschlers, the Sudeks, Dick, Patty, and Lee Eckel, Lynn and Todd, and their families. And of course, Mom and Dad.

Acknowledgements