I've found that programming can be as theoretical as you make it, when you do it as a hobby. Professionally, you may have to look a bit harder. Most "standard"

I've found that programming can be as theoretical as you make it, when you do it as a hobby. Professionally, you may have to look a bit harder. Most "standard" coding that I've done involves finding the right library and wiring together with another, and then building the application between the two. As always, your milage may vary. Speed is still a very real concern, especially in fields like data analysis. And even wiring libraries together you may find that eventually you may have to write your own implementation of something theory based.