A good carpenter might have no talent and acquires her skills through experience. She uses the skills to build something (a tree-house, a shed) and she is drive

A good carpenter might have no talent and acquires her skills through experience. She uses the skills to build something (a tree-house, a shed) and she is driven by the passion to build something, to look at her finished work and see it is useful. I wouldn't imagine her driven by the passion to use a table saw or wood glue. Programming is a tool, a means to an end. One writes code to create something, and it helps to be talented if one has little experience. Passion helps to reach your target (e.g. create a new OS kernel, a new programming language). I may enjoy programming, but passion for programming without a target wouldn't drive me far. [EDIT just realized khedoros1 made the same point, even using the same metaphor...]