It is a true honor to be asked to write an introduction to a book by Lex de Haan. I just hope I can give Lex the credit he deserves for his friendship, knowledge, enthusiasm, carpentry . . . and sheer energy in the many years we ve been doing things in the Oracle world. Lex spent 14 years in Oracle, starting as an instructor in Oracle Netherlands, becoming initiator and coordinator of Oracle s excellent Technical Seminar business, and finally ending up in Oracle s Curriculum Development division as a manager for a bunch of very excellent course developers. He is never afraid to start up...