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Joy of Software?

You may notice that the Joy of Software logo is reminiscent of the cover of the ubiquitous tome, Joy of Cooking. In the mid seventies, home alone after school, I started to explore the family copy of Joy of Cooking. I stumbled upon the section on candy making and became engrossed, spending afternoons experimenting with the very different ways sugar behaved after being heated to various temperatures. This was the beginning of an enthusiastic hobbyist’s interest in the kitchen arts.

Around the same time another group of hobbyists were having early commercial success with personal computers. The Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080 debuted and I was drawn to the hardware, especially the IMSAI because of all those switches on the front. But as I investigated these new microcomputers I became intrigued with the concept of software. A set of instructions, a series of ones and zeros could alter what the computer did and how it behaved. Software could be stored and reloaded, it could change execution based on inputs, it could even alter itself! I needed to learn more. My mom managed to enroll my middle school self in computer classes at a local college (thanks Mom!) where I learned to program using punch cards on an IBM System/360. Software (and cooking) have brought me great joy ever since.

Joy is also my wife’s name and she brings joy to me and many others, so that is a happy coincidence.

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