Acknowledgments

While the task of writing a book may seem like a solitary one, this book simply could not have happened without the many people who have supported me in my journey writing it. I’d like to personally thank all of you.

To my wonderful wife, Rena—thank you for the time and emotional support you’ve given to me. You took care of everything while I hunkered down like a recluse and wrote. To my adorable kids, Tuvi, Leah, Shaya, Rami, and Yechiel—thank you for your patience as I wrote my book on “algorizms.” And yes—it’s finally done.

To my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard and Debbie Wengrow—thank you for initially sparking my interest in computer programming and helping me pursue it. Little did you know that getting me a computer tutor for my ninth birthday would set the foundation for my career—and now this book.

To my wife’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Kreindel Pinkus—thank you for your continued support of my family and me. Your wisdom and warmth mean so much to me.

When I first submitted my manuscript to the Pragmatic Bookshelf, I thought it was good. However, through the expertise, suggestions, and demands of all the wonderful people who work there, the book has become something much, much better than I could have written on my own.

Firstly, I’d like to thank my editor, Katharine Dvorak, for helping get this Python edition to the finish line quickly while also improving the book’s quality at the same time.

I’d also like to thank Tammy Coron, managing editor of the Pragmatic Bookshelf, for overseeing this project. (And thanks for generating all of the Python-specific images!)

Thank you to Dave Rankin, CEO of the Pragmatic Bookshelf, for leading the best publishing company to write for as well as for supporting and sharing my vision for creating the language-specific editions of this book.

To Brian MacDonald, the editor of the original editions—thank you for showing me how a book like this should be written. This book has your imprint all over it.

To the extremely talented software developer and artist, Colleen McGuckin—thank you for taking my chicken scratch and transforming it into beautiful digital imagery. This book would be nothing without the spectacular visuals you’ve created with such skill and attention to detail.

I’ve been fortunate that so many experts have reviewed this book. Your feedback has been extremely helpful and has made sure that this book can be as accurate as possible. I’d like to thank all of you for your contributions.

The reviewers of the original editions were: Alessandro Bahgat, Ivo Balbaert, Rinaldo Bonazzo, Alberto Boschetti, Mike Browne, Craig Castelaz, Jacob Chae, Javier Collado, Zulfikar Dharmawan, Ashish Dixit, Dan Dybas, Emily Ekhdal, Mohamed Fouad, Derek Graham, Neil Hainer, Peter Hampton, Rod Hilton, Jeff Holland, Jessica Janiuk, Aaron Kalair, Stephan Kämper, Grant Kazan, Arun S. Kumar, Sean Lindsay, Nigel Lowry, Joy McCaffrey, Dary Merckens, Nouran Mhmoud, Kevin Mitchell, Daivid Morgan, Brent Morris, Jasdeep Narang, Emanuele Origgi, Stephen Orr, Kenneth Parekh, Jason Pike, Sam Rose, Ayon Roy, Frank Ruiz, Brian Schau, Tibor Simic, Matteo Vaccari, Mitchell Volk, Stephen Wolff, and Peter W. A. Wood.

The reviewers of this Python edition are: Connor Baskin, Katy Douglas, Tzvi Friedman, Joey Gallotta, Rod Hilton, Paa JAKE, Patrick Nikolaus, Nathan Pena, Terry Peppers, Lyndon Purcell, Cody Rutt, Brian Schau, Ahmad Shahba, and Joe Yakich.

In addition to the official reviewers, I’d also like to thank all the beta book readers who provided feedback as I continued to write and edit the book. Your suggestions, comments, and questions have been invaluable.

I’d also like to thank all the staff, students, and alumni at Actualize for your support. This book was originally an Actualize project, and you’ve all contributed in various ways. I’d like to particularly thank Luke Evans for giving me the idea to write this book.

Thank you all for making this book a reality.