Acknowledgments

There are a number of individuals who made this work possible, specifically those who had to live with me, who demonstrated an abundance of encouragement, patience, understanding, and had to sacrifice a part of themselves to make this endeavor real.

I thank God for making everything possible, and I thank my family for what they have been, are, and will be—the essence of my world: my father Saad and mother Rabab, my brothers Ghazwan and Phillip, my wife Milad, and last but surely never least, my daughter, Nora.

I would also like to thank my mentors, Dr. Carl V. Page and Dr. George C. Stockman, for their continued and everlasting "presence" in my world.

In addition, I would like to thank the many practitioners leveraging my first book UML in Nutshell (O'Reilly) and my second book Guide to Applying the UML (Springer-Verlag) from across the world for their support and continued acknowledgment of their value.

I would also like to thank Tim O'Reilly for giving me the opportunity to do this book; my editor, Jonathan Gennick, for his effort and understanding and for showing me the true fabric that makes O'Reilly and Associates and Learning books a success; and all of the staff at O'Reilly and Associates for their work in bringing this book to life. Thanks also go to the following reviewers for their feedback: Don Bales, Peter Komisar, and John Whiteway.

I will not forget any of you, and I only ask that you please remember me.