Thanks to Mike Loukides for thinking that Rails could use a new and different approach, and for supporting this project along the way. Tech reviewers Gregg Pollack, Shelley Powers, Mike Fitzgerald, Eric Berry, David Schruth, Mike Hendrickson, and Mark Levitt all helped improve the book tremendously. The rubyonrails-talk group provided regular inspiration, as did the screencasts and podcasts at http://railscasts.com and http://railsenvy.com.

Edd Dumbill wishes to thank his lovely children, Thomas, Katherine and Peter, for bashing earnestly on the keyboard, and his coauthor, Simon St.Laurent, for his patient encouragement in writing this book.

Simon St.Laurent wants to thank Angelika St.Laurent for her support over the course of writing this, even when it interfered with dinner, and Sungiva St.Laurent for her loudly shouted suggestions. Simon would also like to thank Edd Dumbill for his initial encouragement and for making this book possible.

We’d like to thank Sarah Schneider, for seeing this book through production, as well as Mark Jewett and Virginia Ogozalek at Appingo for their work on it. Jessamyn Read made the figures much more appealing, and Seth Maislin created the index.