Kirk Knoernschild is a software developer who has filled most roles on the software development team. Kirk is the author of Java Design: Objects, UML, and Process (Addison-Wesley, 2002), and he contributed to No Fluff Just Stuff 2006 Anthology (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2006). Kirk is an open source contributor, has written numerous articles, and is a frequent conference speaker. He has trained and mentored thousands of software professionals on topics including Java/J2EE, modeling, software architecture and design, component-based development, service-oriented architecture, and software process. You can visit his website at techdistrict.kirkk.com.