Acknowledgments

We’d like to make a deal with you. If you haven’t already programmed your virtual video recorder to skip this page, we’ll try to make it interesting and entertaining. The names on this page deserve to be read. Many of them are shaping the way we all think about programming, and still others put in the tireless, thankless work to make this book worth reading.

If each chapter of a Seven Languages book is some kind of a metaphor, which movie character should we curse with acknowledgments? Perhaps we’ll serve up some form of Bill Murray. Is it Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, where each book shows you the same chapter with only slight variations of words but a same dreariness in sentiment and tone? Or maybe we’ll plod gracelessly unaware into your thoughts uninvited, like Bill in What About Bob?

We’ve hidden several Bill Murray movie references in this chapter. See how many you can find.