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 on the cover of BGP is the slender-horned gazelle (Gazella leptoceros). It is the palest of all gazelles and has slightly enlarged hooves for walking on sand. Both sexes have horns: in males, they are about a foot long, slender, and slightly "S" shaped. In females, they are significantly smaller and slimmer, about 8 inches long.

Females and young live in groups of 10 to 30. Adult males establish territories late in the year and mate with females that enter these territories. Females give birth in May or June and wean their one offspring approximately three months later. Gazelles weigh approximately 60 pounds and live about 14 years.

Due to the extreme heat of its desert environment, the slender-horned gazelle feeds mostly at night and in the early morning. Their water needs are small; morning dew on the vegetation they eat suffices. Their main cooling mechanisms are a reflective white coat and a specially adapted nasal passage.

The slender-horned gazelle lives in isolated pockets throughout the central Sahara Desert and has been classified as endangered because of excessive hunting for the animal's meat and horns. Mary Anne Weeks Mayo was the production editor, and Leanne Soylemez was the copyeditor, for BGP. Tatiana Apandi Diaz and Jane Ellin provided quality control. Phil Dangler provided production assistance. Lynda D'Arcangelo wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is an original antique engraving. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted to FrameMaker 5.5.6 by Joe Wizda with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was compiled by Mary Anne Weeks Mayo.