Behind any technical book are the reviewers who greatly increase its quality. This book is no exception. We would like to thank Eberhard Wolff, Jens Coldewey, Scott Ambler, Keys Botzum, and Brandon Smith, who reviewed one or more chapters. In addition, we would like to thank several others who helped provide details or answers to specific questions about the technologies that we evaluated. We would like to give a huge thank-you to these people: Kevin Sutter, Tom Alcott, Steve Brodsky, Timo Salo, Jim Knutson, Randy Schnier, Daniel Lee, Jack Woodson, Gang Chen, Billy Newport, Steve Ims, the Hibernate Development Team, and again, Keys Botzum, Brandon Smith, Scott Ambler, and Eberhard Woolf. Finally, we would like to give a special thanks to the IBM Press and Pearson Staff who had great patience with our busy schedules and often late submissions. Specifically, we would like to thank Kevin Howard, Katherine Bull, Lori Lyons, Cheri Clark, and Gloria Schurick for all the work they did in finally bringing this book to press.

All Praise, Glory, and Honor goes to God the Father and my Lord Jesus Christ! I would like to thank my wife and best friend, Blanca, whom I love with all my heart and soul. Writing books takes too much time away from my family, and she often bears the burden of our day-to-day life because of it. Thank you to Savannah, Alyssa, Joseph, and Amadeus for being wonderful children. Thank you to my father and my mother, Rolando and Maria Barcia, for raising me and loving me. I would like to thank my mother-in-law and friend Nery Leon, especially for watching the kids many times during this book project. I would like to thank my coauthors for writing this book with me. Thank you Kyle and Geoff for mentoring me and helping me achieve many career goals. Thanks Robert for being the best protégé a mentor could have, and thanks to Kulvir for taking me to “Baby Acapulcos” to eat fajitas and for being my friend. Thank you to several of my managers and leaders who have helped me along the way, especially Albert Scardino, Hicham Badawi, Peter Bahrs, Rachel Reinitz, and Tom Kristek. Finally, I would like to thank many other friends and family for praying for me, supporting me, and being my friends: Pastor Gary Stefanski, Michael Kenna, Alain Ratsimbazafy, Gang Chen, Avelino Barcia (Tio Cabezon), Nancy Quevedo (Tia), Javier and Maria Leon, Amelia Jorge (Mami), my brothers and sisters at Fairview Gospel Church, and my sister, Adriana Cantelmo, whom I forgot to mention in my last book, and who, to this day, does not let me forget about it.

I’d like to thank my wife, Cindy; two sons, Austin and Alex; daughter, Lesli, and her husband, Tod; and my two grandkids, Ella and Clara. They have given up family time with me for years while I have been working on one writing project or another. Hopefully now that I have “the book project” out of my system, that will be that. I’d like to thank my Dad and Mom, James O. and Elizabeth A Hambrick, who did a great job raising six kids, and finding a way to make this “fourth of six” feel special and capable of doing anything that I put my mind to. I’d also like to acknowledge Robert Peterson, who had the idea to turn our internal whitepaper comparing persistence mechanisms into a book—I will forgive him someday (just kidding!). I’d like to thank Roland Barcia, who really carried the baton on this project until the end. Finally, I’d especially like to thank Tom Kristek, who has been a friend and mentor for more than 15 years—his straightforward approach and keen ability to focus on the essential details of a problem have truly made me who I am professionally today. WATFT!

I would like to thank my wonderful wife Ann and my son Nathaniel for the support and love that they gave me through this project. I’d also like to thank the people who I learned about the ins and outs of object persistence from and with: Ken Auer and Sam Adams, Bruce Whitenack, Wayne Beaton, Justin Hill, Timo Salo, Art Jolin, Mark Weitzel, Rachel Reinitz, Martin Fowler, and especially Scott Rich, who besides being a fantastic collaborator in the early days of EJB was a great help and source of stories about the early days of VisualAge^® Persistence for this book. Thanks also to the members of the IBM Software Group Architecture Board for carefully reviewing an earlier version of this document and hosting some lively discussions on the findings. Finally, I’d like to thank our wonderful reviewers, especially Scott Ambler and Eberhard Wolff, and anyone else we’ve forgotten who we’ve asked for information, help, or assistance during the writing of this book.

I’d like to thank my father, who patiently taught me how to read and write in English during those trying childhood years in Mexico, and my mother for her loving support and reassurance. I’d like to thank my coauthors, particularly Roland, my mentor, to whom I credit any of my success—including this book. A special thanks to my manager, Mike Morin, who fully supported the countless hours I spent with my coauthors gradually and exhaustively molding this project into fruition.

I’d like to thank God for all the grace He has shed upon me. Without Him, I am nothing. I thank my beloved wife, Meeti, whose smile always turns my frowns upside down. I’d also like to thank my parents, Kirpal and Manjit, who brought me into this world and patiently taught me how to walk on it. I also thank my sister Pummi and niece Sajal for their love and support. It goes without saying, but Roland, Robert, Kyle, and Geoff, thanks for being patient with my hectic consulting schedule and giving me the opportunity to work with you guys in putting this book together. Finally, I’d like to thank Andy Sweet for being a great, supportive manager and good friend.