Magic Ink: Information Software and the Graphical Interface

This draft was released March 15, 2006. Please email comments to bret worrydream.com. You can also download the PDF. Magic Ink Information Software and the Graphical Interface by Bret Victor Of software and sorcery A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer’s idea of a spirit. It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all. However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by controlling a robot arm in a factory. The programs we use to conjure processes are like a sorcerer’s spells. —Abelson and Sussman, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (1984) Merlin had it easy—raising Stonehenge was a mere engineering challenge. He slung some weighty stones, to be sure, but their placement had only to please a subterranean audience whose interest in the matter was rapidly decomposing. The dead are notoriously unpicky. Today’s software magicians carry a bu ... Read full article.