First and foremost, I must acknowledge DevelopMentor. For any of you who are unfamiliar with this company, DevelopMentor focuses on training and education for developers building distributed systems. DevelopMentor is made up of the brightest and most enthusiastic group of computer scientists I have ever encountered—a peer group of the highest level of technical integrity. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been part of this community for the last six years of my life. Many of the ideas, analogies, and recommendations in this book derive from a shared viewpoint and common base of knowledge that have grown out of the DevelopMentor community.

Many thanks to Mike Abercrombie, Lorrie Trussell, and everyone else who works at DevelopMentor. I am grateful for all your hard work building this rich and nourishing environment, which has given me so many opportunities. DevelopMentor has allowed me to exchange ideas with some of the industry's top researchers and to pursue my passion for cutting-edge technology.