A miserable programmer is a miserable person and won't be happy with good tools and technologies. Likewise, a "skillful" programmer could be a like a skillful

A miserable programmer is a miserable person and won't be happy with good tools and technologies. Likewise, a "skillful" programmer could be a like a skillful mechanic that builds a good set of tools. The best mechanics I've known ended up working in jobs where they like the cars they maintain (Honda, Porsche, classic car restoration). The less skillful ones seem "trapped" working with cheap parts or cobbling things together and not doing a great job of it. They tend to have excuses about why the cars or parts are engineered poorly. I've also known very skillful mechanics that are proud of their ability to keep beat up old cars running inexpensively regardless of the brand and making their own tools rather than buying fancy ones. Likewise, a good programmer will know the limits of the systems they are working in and will strive to not do quick fixes that cause problems later. They may also make their own tools and libraries...and they will move to companies with better politics or projects when opportunities arise.