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 bird on the cover of Palm OS Programming: The Developer's Guide, Second Edition, is a rock dove. There are 14 subspecies of rock dove, including the domestic pigeon. These birds are widely distributed throughout the world. In their native environment, rock doves live on rocky cliffs, building their nests in crevices and caves. In the urban environment that most domestic pigeons inhabit, nests are built on the ledges of buildings. Rock doves are not migratory birds; they establish permanent residences. Domestic pigeons often have a range as small as 500 square meters. The rock doves' diet consists mainly of grains containing meal and oil. They also feed on insects and snails, and they supplement this diet with stones, sand, and clay. There is a considerably less savory aspect of their diet, as well: rock doves often satisfy their salt requirements by feeding at dung heaps, or near refuse or human waste sites.

The rock dove population has exploded as many of their natural predators, such as the falcon, hawk, and owl, have decreased in number. This population increase is also helped along by humans, who feed the birds. Linley Dolby was the production editor and proofreader for Palm OS Programming: The Developer's Guide, Second Edition. Mark Nigara was the copyeditor. Rachel Wheeler, Sada Preisch, Mary Anne Weeks Mayo, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. John Bickelhaupt wrote the index. Edie Shapiro, Jeffrey Holcomb, Derek Di Matteo, Ann Schirmer, Tatiana Apandi Diaz, and Sarah Sherman provided production support.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with Quark-XPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Melanie Wang designed the interior layout, based on a series design by David Futato. Neil Walls converted the files from Microsoft Word to FrameMaker 5.5.6 using tools created by Mike Sierra. 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 written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary.

Whenever possible, our books use a durable and flexible lay-flat binding.