Dr. Dobb's Journal (often shortened to Dr. Dobb's or DDJ) was a monthly magazine published in the United States by UBM Technology Group, part of UBM. It covered topics aimed at computer programmers. When launched in 1976, DDJ was the first regular periodical focused on microcomputer software, rather than hardware. In its last years of publication, it was distributed as a PDF monthly, although the principal delivery of Dr. Dobb's content was through the magazine's website. Publication ceased at the end

of 2014, with the archived website continuing to be available online.

History

Bob Albrecht edited an eccentric newspaper about computer games programmed in BASIC with the same name as the tiny nonprofit educational corporation that he had founded, People's Computer Company (PCC). Dennis Allison While he went on to make a splash with his series of West Coast Computer Faires, subsequent DDJ editors Hank Harrison, Michael Swaine and Jonathan Erickson appear to have focused on the journalistic and social aspects of the young but growing microcomputer industry. Eventually PCC, the non-profit corporation, sold DDJ to a commercial publisher.

There were also projects for computer speech synthesis and computer music systems. a website and monthly digital PDF edition.

Later history

The primary Dr. Dobb's content streams at the end were the Dr. Dobb's website, Dr. Dobb's Journal (the monthly PDF magazine, which had different content from the website) and a weekly newsletter, Dr. Dobb's Update. In addition, Dr. Dobb's continued to run the Jolt Awards and, since 1995, the Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award. Regular bloggers include Scott Ambler, Walter Bright, Andrew Koenig, and Al Williams. Adrian Bridgwater edited the news section beginning in 2010.

End

On December 16, 2014, an article by editor-in-chief Andrew Binstock announced that Dr. Dobb's would cease publication of new articles at the end of 2014.

Further reading

  • John Markoff, What the Dormouse Said ().
  • Dr. Dobb's bibliography