James Gardner is an Oxford University graduate in physics, cofounder of the Pylons web framework, and founder of 3aims Ltd, a knowledge interaction technology consultancy based in London. The majority of his professional experience has been in the development and support of research and development systems for three different National Health Service organizations in the United Kingdom, and he also coded the popular "What Should I Read Next?" book recommendation service. James has been writing computer programs since he was a small boy. When he first got his hands on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, he was very proud to show his grandmother the flashing colored shapes he had managed to get to appear on a black background on the TV. The excitement and satisfaction of being able to create something extraordinary from a series of carefully ordered characters in a file and a little bit of logical thinking has never left him. James is heavily involved in open-source software, and in addition to his involvement in Pylons, he wrote the Python web modules AuthKit and FormBuild and has a keen interest in authentication and single sign-on systems such as OpenID. He is an advocate of building web applications with the Web Server Gateway Interface APIs that you'll learn about in his book, The Definitive Guide to Pylons. While not traveling to London or Oxford, James enjoys nothing more than discussing ideas with challenging and like-minded individuals or sitting down with a cup of tea, a pile of blank paper, a pen, and an Internet connection to think about better ways to solve complex problems using web technology. In his spare time, James enjoys everything to do with the outdoors from cycling to climbing and from astronomy to scuba diving. In fact, he recently went on a dive trip to the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumbria in the United Kingdom, where he thoroughly enjoyed having his equipment nibbled by inquisitive seals. James is lucky enough to have traveled widely and enjoys meeting new people and learning about the different ways people see the world. James' company's web site is at 3aims.com, and he maintains a personal blog documenting his experiments with Python and Linux, amongst other things, at JimmyG.org.
