I'd like to thank Dyung Le for not only suggesting the idea for the book, but giving me an opportunity to develop software straight out of high school. In addition, I'd like to thank Rita Horsey, who also taught me quite a bit, and provided me with an Internet connection in the early days of the book.
Of course, I'd also like to thank my family for not only putting up with my bizarre work hours during the entire writing period, but also coming to my assistance whenever I needed it. There's no way I could have finished this book without their support.
Thanks to all the reviewers and everyone who provided suggestions: Jeffrey Friedl (the king of regular expressions), Andreas Koenig (the father of MakeMaker), Marc Hedlund (the originator of the CGI FAQ), Tom Christiansen (the Unix wizard), Jon Backstrom, Joseph Radin, Paul DuBois, and from ORA, Norman Walsh, Paula Ferguson, Ellie Cutler, Tanya Herlick, Frank Willison, Andy Oram, Linda Mui, and Tim O'Reilly.
And last, but not least, a thanks to all my friends here and to my family and relatives in India, especially my grandparents.
Hope you find the book useful!
Shishir Gundavaram, March 1996
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