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 Java Network Programming, Third Edition, is a North American river otter (Lutra canadensis). These small carnivores are found in all major waterways of the United States and Canada, and in almost every habitat except the tundra and the hot, dry regions of the southwestern U.S. They weigh about 20 pounds and are approximately two and a half feet long, and females tend to be about a third smaller than males. Their diet consists mainly of aquatic animals like fish and frogs, but since they spend about two-thirds of their time on land, they also eat the occasional bird or rodent. Two layers of fur--a coarse outer coat and a thick, dense inner coat--protect a river otter from the cold, and, in fact, they seem to enjoy playing in snow and ice. When diving, a river otter's pulse rate slows to only 20 beats per minute from its normal 170, conserving oxygen and allowing the otter to stay underwater longer. These animals are sociable and domesticated easily, and in Europe, a related species was once trained to catch fish for people to eat. Colleen Gorman was the production editor and copyeditor for Java Network Programming, Third Edition. Sada Preisch proofread the book. Sarah Sherman and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Mary Agner provided production assistance.John Bickelhaupt wrote the index.

Emma Colby designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Clay Fernald produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Julie Hawks to FrameMaker 5.5.6 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 MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Leanne Soylemez.