R.M. Menon has worked with Oracle database for over 11 years, eight of which have been at Oracle Corporation. Menon works as a project lead in the core technology division of Oracle. For the past five years, Menon has used JDBC and other J2EE technologies extensively as part of his work. He believes in the philosophy of proving all assertions, and has strived to follow this philosophy rigorously in his book. When he is not doing research on Oracle, Menon learns Indian classical vocal music and performs at local cultural events as a singer. Occasionally, he also dabbles in sketching portraits, and drawing paintings and cartoons.