Thanks to my wife, Ellen, and my children, David and Catherine, for being so accepting of my absence from family life during the many, many hours that I spent at my desk while writing this book.
I offer thanks and gratitude to the team at Packt Publishing, whose enthusiasm for this book has ensured that the process of creating it was an enjoyable, rewarding, and challenging experience; it has been a pleasure working with you. For the Technical Reviewers—thank you for your generous comments, helpful suggestions, and for your vigilance in detecting my errors.
For my daughter, Catherine; thank you for proof reading the early drafts, testing the accompanying code, and for providing such helpful, constructive criticism.
My final acknowledgements are reserved for Joe Dolivo and Jonathan Chung of Stencyl, LLC. Joe, thank you for responding to each of my many questions so promptly and comprehensively; I am indebted to you. Jon, thank you for creating Stencyl; it is a wonderful tool that has already enabled, and will continue to enable, many people to "find the fun!"
This book is dedicated to my dear wife, Ellen; thank you for your love, your support, and your encouragement. Here it is in print; I love you.
For David and Catherine—I love you too!