Alain Trottier

Alain Trottier observes the .com warfare of Southern California as a technology management consultant (Strategic Business Resources) and adjunct professor at Vanguard University. He has been in the tech sector for two decades. He has been on the electronics side, working with RF gear, Nuclear Power Plants, and electro-mechanical devices. On the IT side he has had roles as technologist, developer support specialist, programmer, architect, and manager. He got a kick out of being in the U.S. Submarine Navy (nuclear power division). He was impressed with his bosses at Chevron's world-class research center. He was astonished by the .com bubble while at Adforce, and then Winfire, where he experienced a meteoric IPO, but subsequent flame-out. He has been through get-it-right-at-all-cost in a Fortune 30 company, but also the other extreme where one bets it all on a get-it-out-there-at-no-cost venture. He enjoys a difficult technology challenge and likes the people even better. He feels his degrees in religion (B.A., M.A. with specialization in the linguistics of ancient religious texts) is a terrific way to broaden one's abilities. He has certifications from both Microsoft and Sun so his bias is simply what works best for a given situation. If you have a question, comment, or even a challenge, the author would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact him (think Chief Technology Ambassador) from the book's Web site at http://www.inforobo.com/scwcd.

Steve Heckler is a freelance programmer and IT trainer specializing in .NET, Java, ColdFusion, Flash ActionScript, and XML. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, he works with clients nationwide. In addition, he is the author of the Sun Certification Instructor Resource Kit (310-025, 310-027): Java 2 Programmer and Developer Exams and Sun Certification Instructor Resource Kit (310-080): Java 2 Web Component Developer Exam, and is currently writing an ASP.NET-related book for Addison-Wesley.

Prior to being self-employed, he served nearly seven years as vice president and president of a leading East Coast IT training firm. He holds bachelor's and masters degrees from Stanford University.

Marcus Green has been working with PCs since 1986 and with Internet technologies since 1992. He has written extensively on Java Programmer Certification and runs a Web site on that subject at http://www.jchq.net. He has written database-backed Web sites using Perl, PHP, and JSP, and he uses Linux as his default operating system.

Bryan Basham is a courseware developer for Sun Microsystems concentrating on Java technology and object-oriented design principles. In the 1980s, Bryan worked for NASA in Houston, Texas, developing advanced automation software using Artificial Intelligence techniques. In the 1990s, he worked for a medium-sized software engineering consulting firm. His development expertise has focused on the design and development of database business applications. Bryan has worked for Sun Educational Services for three years. In that time, he has worked on a large range of Java courses, including Sun's core Java programming course, the JDBC course, the J2EE overview seminar, and the Servlet/JSP course. Bryan is a practicing Zen Buddhist, Ultimate Frisbee player, audiophile, and telemark skier.