About the Author

John Paul Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 93 books and over 300 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and from database management to heads-down programming. Some of his current books include a Windows 8 quick reference guide, an HTML5 and JavaScript programming book, and an Entity Framework 5 programming manual. His technical editing skills have helped more than 63 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. John has provided technical editing services to both Data Based Advisor and Coast Compute magazines. He's also contributed articles to magazines such as Software Quality Connection, DevSource, InformIT, SQL Server Professional, Visual C++ Developer, Hard Core Visual Basic, asp.netPRO, Software Test and Performance, and Visual Basic Developer. Be sure to read John's blog at http://blog.johnmuellerbooks.com/.

When John isn't working at the computer, you can find him outside in the garden, cutting wood, or generally enjoying nature. John also likes making wine and knitting. When not occupied with anything else, he makes glycerin soap and candles, which comes in handy for gift baskets. You can reach John on the Internet at John@JohnMuellerBooks.com. John is also setting up a website at www.johnmuellerbooks.com. Feel free to take a look and make suggestions on how he can improve it.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to a gem of a friend who once was lost and now is found, Debbie Patenaude.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Thanks to my wife, Rebecca, for working with me to get this book completed. I really don’t know what I would have done without her help in researching and compiling some of the information that appears in this book. She also did a fine job of proofreading my rough draft. Rebecca keeps the house running while I’m buried in work.

Russ Mullen deserves thanks for his technical edit of this book. He greatly added to the accuracy and depth of the material you see here. Russ is always providing me with great URLs for new products and ideas. However, it’s the testing Russ does that helps most. He’s the sanity check for my work. Russ also has different computer equipment from mine, so he’s able to point out flaws that I might not otherwise notice.

Matt Wagner, my agent, deserves credit for helping me get the contract in the first place and taking care of all the details that most authors don’t really consider. I always appreciate his assistance. It’s good to know that someone wants to help.

A number of people read all or part of this book to help me refine the approach, test the coding examples, and generally provide input that all readers wish they could have. These unpaid volunteers helped in ways too numerous to mention here. I especially appreciate the efforts of Eva Beattie, Glenn Russell, Osvaldo Téllez Almirall, Muhammad Kharbush, Omar Garcia, and William Wonneberger, who provided general input, read the entire book, and selflessly devoted themselves to this project.

Finally, I would like to thank Steve Hayes, Christopher Morris, Barry Childs-Helton, and the rest of the editorial and production staff at Wiley for their assistance in bringing this book to print. It’s always nice to work with such a great group of professionals.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

Executive Editor: Steve Hayes

Senior Project Editor: Christopher Morris

Senior Copy Editor: Barry Childs-Helton

Technical Editor: Russ Mullen

Editorial Assistant: Anne Sullivan

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cover Image: ©iStockphoto.com/Hakki Arslan

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Layout and Graphics: Carrie A. Cesavice

Proofreader: Barbara Arany

Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services