I'd like to thank my wife Amy who has been behind me for over fifteen years, supporting me during the development of this and other books. Behind every man is a great woman, and I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not for her.

I'd also like to thank my parents, Derek and Ann, for introducing me to technology at an early age with a ZX81 and setting me on a path and a career that would take me across the globe, even if my first company's name could have been better chosen.

Special thanks are due to Ann Ford, Carla Guillen, Jeff Maury and Peter Rice who provided detailed feedback about every chapter and the exercises therein for the first edition, and to Tom Seidel and Roberto Lo Giacco for the second edition. Without their diligence and attention, this book would contain many more errors than I would like. Thanks are also due to the Packt editing team, Kajal Thapar, Preeti Singh and Mohita Vyas for making this possible.

During the latter stages of the first edition of the book I was also fortunate enough to receive some good feedback and advice from Lars Vogel and Ian Bull, both of whom are heavily involved in the Eclipse platform. I am especially grateful for Lars' website at www.vogella.com which has been an invaluable resource.

Thanks to Scott James, David Jones and Charles Humble for all the help you have given me over the years. Thanks also to my Docklands.LJC co-founder Robert Barr who tweets from @DocklandsLJC.

Finally, congratulations to both Sam and Holly on all your achievements in music, maths and school. Keep up the good work!