Oracle Application Server 10g Essentials

Acknowledgments

Each author has arrived at this collaboration through a different path, but we would all like to thank the many people who made this book both possible and a joy to write.

First of all, we’re all grateful to each other. Bob and Rick worked together on Oracle Essentials, but Don was new to the mix. What was quite amazing about this process was how well we meshed. Although this particular birthing process included occasional pain and frustration, we sincerely believe the result is far better because all three of us were involved in the gestation. Many times, as one of us wrote a chapter, we would pause to consider a detailed point and then simply pose a question and move on, confident that one of our coauthors would be sure to fill in the blank, egg us on to rewrite, or deliver constructive criticism.

This book would not have been possible without the invaluable assistance of many, many people at Oracle Corporation. This book was the brainchild of Thomas Kurian and Lisa Goldstein, and we would like to give a special thank you to Lisa for her stewardship of this book, from inception to completion—the second most important birthing activity of her recent life. Many thanks to Sheila Cepero as well for her help in getting this book from the drawing board to production.

Pete Farkas provided invaluable tips on Oracle Application Server and did a tremendous job of managing the intricate review process at Oracle (as well as reviewing a number of chapters himself).

Many people helped out with that review process and although we have tried our best to mention everyone here, we may simply be unaware of certain contributions. If we have missed anyone, please let us know so that we can thank you in a subsequent printing of this book. Many thanks to our reviewers: Janga Aliminati, Christine Chan, Jim Clark, Rob Clark, Brian Conneen, Lee Cooper, John Deeb, Lars Ewe, Pete Farkas, Mikael Fransson, Gordon Jackson, Ragu Kodali, John Lang, Bruce Lowenthal, Debu Panda, Blaise Ribet, Ekkehard Rohwedder, Donald Smith, Deepak Thomas, Philipp Weckerle, and Robin Zimmerman. These reviewers did a great job of checking our text, suggesting changes, and finding errors. However, any remaining errors are exclusively our own responsibility.

And thanks as always to the terrific O’Reilly team—our editor, Debby Russell, our production editor, Mary Anne Weeks Mayo, and everyone else who had a hand in this book.

From Rick

Many thanks to Christine Chan who provided a great deal of help in clarifying technical points. Many current and former Oracle employees offered me assistance at various crucial points in the writing and editing process, including Ashesh Parekh, Todd Vender, and Nick Kritikos. A special thanks to Raz Alivarius for his contribution to Chapter 13 and to Judson Althoff for getting the ball rolling.

From Robert

Thanks to:

• The pilots at American Airlines and United Airlines. By avoiding turbulence, I was able to complete much of my portion of the book on dozens of flights while accumulating frequent flyer miles at the same time.

• Doughnut-shop owners in northern Illinois. Without these pastries, the book may have never gotten off the ground. Fortunately(?), we were powered by sugar when we created the outline.

• My management for their continuing support. I’d especially like to thank Susan Cook and Mark Salser. In addition, the guys in Oracle’s Enterprise Technology Center, especially Jim Olsen and Geoff Grandstaff, were helpful in providing Grid Control access to a pool of Oracle Application Servers. I’d also like to thank the Oracle Technology Business Unit Application Server specialists and, in the area of business intelligence, Louis Nagode.

• Oracle product managers and developers. They continue to produce excellent documentation that was used in providing the basis for much of what was assembled in this book.

• Oracle’s customers. As always, Oracle’s customers have a practical understanding of Oracle Application Server and its components.

From Donald

I would like to thank Kathy Bishop from Corporate Communications at Red Hat for supplying me with a copy of Red Hat Enterprise on which to run Oracle Application Server 10g.