Hello, Bill! I know this can be confusing, but here's the deal: Baking soda, also known as bicarbonate of soda, is used as a leavener in baked goods. That is, it helps make the dough or batter rise, resulting in lighter, higher baked goods. So, yes, baking soda is necessary for the successful outcome of a baked-good recipe.  Salt, however, is usually not required for the success of a recipe. But keep in mind that salt does a lot to bring out the other flavors of a bread or dessert, so it will taste “more vanilla-y” or “more blueberry-ish” – and just better.  Also keep in mind that from-scratch, home-baked goods in general have much, much less salt than the equivalent store-bought products (assuming  that  the recipe does not call for prepared foods like canned soup, crackers, whipped topping, caramel sauce, etc.)  So if you are baking from scratch, without "prepared" ingredients, I wouldn’t worry too much about that 1/2 teaspoon of salt in your homemade bread, oatmeal cookies, or other treat.