It probably didn't improve my programming - I started it as a fun way to learn Python, but I'm retired after 30 years in the business writing compilers and othe

It probably didn't improve my programming - I started it as a fun way to learn Python, but I'm retired after 30 years in the business writing compilers and other programming tools/library code. Learning and programming data structures and algorithms is second nature by now. But I'd say it did improve my thought process, specifically the ability to dwell deeply on something, and wait for inspiration to strike. For the really hard problems, I often will hit that "Eureka!" moment when everything is suddenly obvious, and I think I'm getting better at that. A part of that, too, is my Google-fu has improved. As I delve into deeper parts of math, I seem able to come up with the key search phrase more quickly. It helps that I did my BSc in Math, 40 years ago, so reading academic papers wasn't foreign to me.