Learning MySQL

Acknowledgments

First of all, we thank all the people around the world who have contributed to the MySQL, PHP, and Perl projects, and related open source initiatives such as Linux. These have been an important part of our lives, and of course, this wouldn’t be much of a book without them!

Writing a technical book is an incredibly time-consuming process, and only an editor as patient and steady-handed as Andy Oram could have coaxed and cajoled us into getting the book done and out of the door. Thanks Andy!

We also thank our technical reviewers, Paul Kinzelman, Falk Scholer, and Omkhar Arasaratnam, for pointing out many ways in which the content could be improved, and the team at O’Reilly for converting our material into a professionally produced book.

Saied Tahaghoghi

I thank Hugh for inviting me to collaborate on this project (and for the countless other ways he’s made my life more interesting); Santha Sumanasekara for helping me to set up my first ever Linux box and introducing me to MySQL and PHP so many years ago; my various teachers and mentors for painstakingly showing me the way; and my friends and colleagues for helping me maintain an appearance of sanity. Most of all, I thank all my family for their constant kindness, support, and prayers; I’m especially indebted to my wife, Somayyeh, for patiently enduring for so long my claims that, “The book’s almost done!”

Hugh Williams

I thank Selina Williams for being always patient, even-tempered, encouraging, and ready to listen while I slaved away on yet another (and maybe my last?) book project. Thanks also to Lucy and Rose for letting Dad work upstairs day after day, and to Mum and Dad for the lend of the Winnebago in the paddock while I bashed out a few of the more technical chapters. But most of all, thanks Saied for agreeing to take up the reins and finish the book after I moved to Microsoft: you’re one of the best men I know. Last, another thank you to Andy Oram; you’re a very patient guy whom I’ve learnt a lot from.