I remember this feeling too. It was one of the big motivations for me to learn C, back then: the ability to create a real .EXE that didn't need an interpreter.

I remember this feeling too. It was one of the big motivations for me to learn C, back then: the ability to create a real .EXE that didn't need an interpreter. That, and the lightning-fast startup time of compiled programs. I remember simultaneously being excited about the fast startup time, and also feeling that my program didn't seem "real" if it finished its operations too quickly. Real programs took time to do things, and something about it felt fake when the program responded immediately.