This next book in our Design Briefs series covers the role of software in visual design, art, and architecture. Its intent is to generate interest in creating visual and spatial form with software across diverse fields by focusing on the history, theory, and practice of software in the arts. The book is about one-fourth text and three-fourths images and is organized around two parallel narratives: one told through images and captions, and the other through essays with related diagrams and images. This allows the book to be read cover to cover or leisurely looked through as a source of inspiration. The first two chapters set the foundation for the rest of the book by discussing the history of the computer in the arts and how software is used to create form. The five themes of repetition, transformation, parameters, visualization, and simulation are deeply linked to code. Each of these sections begins with an essay to define the territory, continues with images and captions, and concludes with code examples. (The code won't be included in the book, but will be available from the URL www.formandcode.com.) This book aims to fundamentally change how people think about software in relation to the visual arts and visual arts education. It's intended to provide a foundation for and/or augment academic courses related to "digital design," "interactive media," "computational design," "media art," "introduction to computer graphics," "introduction to programming," and other related areas.