First Edition

This book benefited greatly from the comments, corrections, and criticisms provided by the technical reviewers: David Axmark, Vijay Chaugule, Chad Cunningham, Bill Gerrard, Jijo George John, Fred Read, Egon Schmid, and Jani Tolonen. Special thanks goes to Michael "Monty" Widenius, the principal MySQL developer, who not only reviewed the manuscript, but also fielded hundreds of questions that I sent his way during the course of writing the book. Naturally, any errors that remain are my own. I'd also like to thank Tomas Karlsson, Colin McKinnon, Sasha Pachev, Eric Savage, Derick H. Siddoway, and Bob Worthy, who reviewed the initial proposal and helped shape the book into its present form.

The staff at New Riders are responsible first for conceiving this book and then for turning my scribblings into the finished work you hold in your hands. Laurie Petrycki acted as Executive Editor. Katie Purdum, Acquisitions Editor, helped me get under way and took the heat when I missed deadlines. Leah Williams did double duty not only as Development Editor but as Copy Editor; she put in many, many late hours, especially in the final stages of the project. Cheryl Lenser and Tim Wright produced the index. John Rahm served as Project Editor. Debra Neel proofread the manuscript. Gina Rexrode and Wil Cruz, Compositors, laid out the book in the form you see now. My thanks to each of them.

Most of all, I want to express my appreciation to my wife, Karen, for putting up with another book, and for her understanding and patience as I disappeared, sometimes for days on end, into "the writing zone." Her support made the task easier on many occasions, and I am pleased to acknowledge her contribution; she helped me write every page.