There’s a very special relationship between programmers and documentation, especially when we’re talking about the definitive texts of the art. A mere passing reference, such as "That goes back to K&R" or "I’m sure you can find that in Knuth," marks both speaker and listener as cognoscenti: people whose one-name celebrities are Kernighan, Ritchie, and Knuth instead of Bono or Cher or Madonna.

Caroline Roth, a Senior Technical Writer at salesforce.com, may not yet be on the same top tier of programmer consciousness as Jon or Guy, but she radiates the same kind of enthusiasm for Apex Code that Bentley has for algorithms and that Steele has for Java or Lisp. As one of the authors of Creating On-Demand Applications: An Introduction to the Apex Platform (now in its second edition, and a free download for Apex Developer Network members), Caroline makes a strong case for why every developer with an eye on the Web should plan to attend this year’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco this September.

For developers who are placing their bets on the Salesforce Platform, or for any developer who wants to stay abreast of the state of the art in building on-demand applications and being part of the community that creates them, this year’s Dreamforce will be a breakout event. Register now.