The World’s Greatest Programmer

 

Once upon a time not too long ago in a land not too far away called California there lived a young man named Raymond Halloway. As Ray grew he , like many little boys wanted to be a whole variety of things. First he wanted to be a cowboy, then a policeman, then an astronaut, then a doctor, then a lawyer, then he got his first computer and he decided he would become the world’s greatest programmer. This was his dream. This was his obsession. He read every book on programming. He learned all the languages. By the time he could have gone to college he knew more than any college teacher in his area. And if he went to college he would have to take silly courses like English and History. So instead he went to work for a small firm that did insurance programming. His programs ran flawlessly even on Microsoft machines. But he was not satisfied. He wanted to be the world’s greatest programmer. After a time insurance programming provided no challenge, no room for growth. So he left the firm and got a low level job with Microsoft.

At this point we need to step back and see the whole Ray. Aside from his obsession Ray was a good guy. He belonged to the Church. He worked with Boy Scouts. He gave money to the needy. He cared about people. When he wasn’t programming he was doing kind deeds.

It was those kind deeds that brought him a visit from the little man in the green suit with the curly shoes. Our elf gave him the usual one wish. Ray thought  for a moment and then said “make me the greatest programmer in the world”.

There was the usual flash of light and the elf said “ as you have wished so shall it be”.

After that Ray rose quickly in the Microsoft ranks. Finally he became the head programmer and was placed in charge of their new operating system. It was his job to provide an operating system that would not crash, that would live up to the promises, that would be worth what Microsoft was charging for it. It had never been done before but he was the world’s greatest programmer. He knew he could do it.

The day came. The new operating system was ready. He tested and re