We thank our many colleagues for their support for this new book. It is certain that without their encouragement (and pressure), this work would not have got off the ground. In particular, we thank Steve Blackburn, Hans Boehm, David Bacon, Cliff Click, David Detlefs, Daniel Frampton, Robin Garner, Barry Hayes, Laurence Hellyer, Maurice Herlihy, Martin Hirzel, Tomáš Kalibera, Doug Lea, Simon Marlow, Alan Mycroft, Cosmin Oancea, Erez Petrank, Fil Pizlo, Tony Printezis, John Reppy, David Siegwart, Gil Tene and Mario Wolczko, all of whom have answered our many questions or given us excellent feedback on early drafts. We also pay tribute to the many computer scientists who have worked on automatic memory management since 1958: without them there would be nothing to write about.
We are very grateful to Randi Cohen, our long-suffering editor at Taylor and Francis, for her support and patience. She has always been quick to offer help and slow to chide us for our tardiness. We also thank Elizabeth Haylett and the Society of Authors3 for her service, which we recommend highly to other authors.
Richard Jones, Antony Hosking, Eliot Moss
Above all, I am grateful to Robbie. How she has borne the stress of another book, whose writing has yet again stretched well over the planned two years, I will never know. I owe you everything! I also doubt whether this book would have seen the light of day without the inexhaustible enthusiasm of my co-authors. Tony, Eliot, it has been a pleasure and an honour writing with knowledgeable and diligent colleagues.
Richard Jones
In the summer of 2002 Richard and I hatched plans to write a follow-up to his 1996 book. There had been lots of new work on GC in those six years, and it seemed there was demand for an update. Little did we know then that it would be another nine years before the current volume would appear. Richard, your patience is much appreciated. As conception turned into concrete planning, Eliot’s offer to pitch in was gratefully accepted; without his sharing the load we would still be labouring anxiously. Much of the early planning and writing was carried out while I was on sabbatical with Richard in 2008, with funding from the United Kingdom’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the United States’ National Science Foundation whose support we gratefully acknowledge. Mandi, without your encouragement and willingness to live out our own Canterbury tale this project would not have been possible.
Antony Hosking
Thank you to my co-authors for inviting me into their project, already largely conceived and being proposed for publication. You were a pleasure to work with (as always), and tolerant of my sometimes idiosyncratic writing style. A formal thank you is also due the Royal Academy of Engineering, who supported my visit to the UK in November 2009, which greatly advanced the book. Other funding agencies supported the work indirectly by helping us attend conferences and meetings at which we could gain some face to face working time for the book as well. And most of all many thanks to my ‘girls,’ who endured my absences, physical and otherwise. Your support was essential and is deeply appreciated!
Eliot Moss