I've been programming for 47 years and I love it. There have been bad times, like the 3 times I fought compiler errors, or the 2 times the hardware bugs made li

I've been programming for 47 years and I love it. There have been bad times, like the 3 times I fought compiler errors, or the 2 times the hardware bugs made life difficult. But it's been a constant learning experience. I've done everything from building a computer and operating system from scratch to creating expert systems to programming FPGAs and creating really complex software. I tell everyone who has ever asked "Should I learn to program?" that they need to know if they can handle being constantly frustrated, puzzled, and confused. Do they know that they'll spend a week on a bug, fix it with a rush of success, only to be on to the next problem minutes later? Can they handle losing a weeks worth of work because the hard drive crashed? It really isn't about programming, It's about facing yourself in the mirror that programming represents. Are you happy being alone with your own thoughts and facing your own limitations and flaws? Writers face the same problem, alone in a room with blank paper. Mirrors are terrible things. The joy is in the struggle.