Being asked to write a foreword for a book is like being asked to be the best man or maid of honor in a wedding. You participate with the intention to support and to represent the curators of a new entity (in this case, a book) with pride and integrity. You also have to be genuine or the “crowd” will see right through you.

For the past 10 years I have worked at Microsoft, helping build products, marketing new initiatives, and most important, evangelizing. During my tenure in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism team, I have had the great pleasure to work with some of the brightest, connected, realistic, and passionate technologists. Jit Ghosh and Rob Cameron are from this camp and they are what make this book unique.

Purchasing decisions are made for lots of reasons, but most of the time it comes down to true value and trust. In other words, do you trust the brand? Do you trust the builder? Do you trust the author? Can you find something else of greater value? How do you quantify the value? The last question is tricky when you are selecting a book on emerging technologies, in this case Silverlight. A book can be useless even before the ink dries, yet other books become classics, impervious to time. This is where authors play the most important role; they can bring immeasurable value to a subject because of their experience and perspective. Sure, Jit and Rob know Silverlight–they have it down cold–but what they really bring to the table is years of experience and perspective working directly with customers and helping them adopt Microsoft technologies.