Much of my career has involved using computers to transform information, automatically. It’s the single biggest advantage to using digital computers.

While working for Byte Craft Limited, I compiled documentation products much as a software developer compiles source code.

I wrote literate content in a form most suited for easy change and reconfiguration, and caused the computer to generate forms most suited for end-user consumption.

This approach requires imagination and language skills, and it doesn’t always involve “industry standard” packages that offer flashy user interfaces and arbitrary limits on flexibility. Give me ImageMagick over Photoshop, any day.

The greatest reward comes from seeing a system, seemingly on its own, create a new product: a configuration that follows the rules I set, but is nevertheless novel.