Oracle Built-in Packages

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal appearing on the cover of Oracle Built-in Packages is a centipede. Centipedes (class Chilopoda) are flattened, elongated, carnivorous arthropods, bearing one pair of legs per body segment. There are numerous orders of centipedes and over 2,500 species. Most of these are small, but some range up to 10 inches in length. Lifespan also varies among species, the longest being about 6 years. Centipedes generally live in moist habitats, including household basements, and are usually nocturnal or underground dwellers. Most species lay eggs in soil during the warmer months and live through the winter as adults.

Though the name implies a hundred legs, the actual number varies from 15 to well over a hundred depending on species. The first pair of legs immediately beneath the mouth is modified into a set of venom-bearing jaws with which the centipede kills its prey (live insects and other small animals) and which are only occasionally used to bite humans, resulting in minor pain and swelling. Centipedes are usually considered household pests, though they are more of a nuisance than a threat, and eat unwelcome insects and other household pests.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover ...