I've had many job titles (and only once was formally titled as a "software engineer") but I keep on doing SW development in some form no matter what job I have.

I've had many job titles (and only once was formally titled as a "software engineer") but I keep on doing SW development in some form no matter what job I have. There are many people that are like me who carve out a niche for themselves doing what you software folks would call "domain work" but we manage to also fold-in the creation of software, systems integration, and other stuff that blurs boundaries. My job always ends up being radically different from my job description. I think that for older folks (like me) this is an excellent way to get into software development: leverage your domain expertise with ever-increasing programming and automation. That way you get a chance to learn on the job doing real things and you DON'T have to "start over" and compete with 20-somethings. Unfortunately, however, this path leads to "lone-wolf" roles where you don't have organic interaction with others doing the same things. I always feel like an outsider when talking to "actual" software engineers and have to spend a lot effort to gain their trust and adapt to their jargon. Like you, I do believe there's a binary distribution for programming aptitude. People either get it and love it or they don't and are indifferent/hate it. Their major in college has almost nothing to do with programming aptitude, so its not surprising that one can "live" an entirely different career path but discover software development in mid/late career.