Dojo: The Definitive Guide

Acknowledgments

Writing this book has been much more than a brief stint of moonlighting and baptism by fire. Rather, it has been a journey that started long before I'd ever even heard of Dojo, JavaScript, or computers. This book is the logical fruition of life-changing events—all involving incredible people. What follows is an ultra-condensed, semi-chronological storyboard of the key happenings that all played a part in the pages that you're about to read.

This book is the culmination of seemingly disparate events in my life, but the common thread amongst all of these events is the incredible people involved in each step along the way. It is with much delight that I give so many thanks to:

• The LORD, for He is good and His steadfast love endures forever!

• Lucille Tabor, who provided a young child a mother and a home.

• Jerry Russell, who purchased a poor boy his first computer.

• David Kade, who taught a hopeful student how to think in another language.

• Deborah Pennington, who almost single-handedly turned a young punk's life around.

• Kellan Sarles, who taught an aspiring writer how to converse on paper.

• Gary Lamont, who engaged an emerging mind to think like a computer scientist.

• Derrick Story, who gave a want-to-be writer an opportunity.

• Abe Music, who first introduced me to Dojo.

• Simon St.Laurent, Tatiana Apandi, Colleen Gorman, Rachel Monaghan, and Sumita Mukherji, who provided the editorial guidance and insight that smoothed out so many of this book's rough edges.

• So many new friends from #dojo, who so generously reviewed this book's manuscript and provided feedback that made all of the difference in quality; in no particular order: Adam Peller, Sam Foster, Karl Tiedt, Bill Keese, Dustin Machi, Pete Higgins, James Burke, Peter Kristoffersson, Alex Russell, and Dylan Schiemann.

• Baseeret, who is the love of my life.

• The LORD, for He is good and His steadfast love endures forever!

—Matthew A. Russell

June 2008