Does programming make you happy?
IsaacSchlueter: I believe there's a quote somewhere in Stranger in a Strange Land, where Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it usually isn't.  It's just something that must be done, like breathing or defecating, and it's about as glamorous.It's hard to say whether programming makes me happy, per se.  I do know that I can't escape it.  I can avoid putting my fingers on a keyboard for a while.  But the brain, it keeps going.  It's how I'm built, and you may as well ask me if I like having two hands instead of 4 or one head instead of 7; but it's the shape of the brain we're talking about.  I find it hard to imagine what life would be like.I program to pay the bills, and it keeps me comfortable.  I also program because I have ideas for programs that don't exist, and it's the only way to make them exist.  I program because I want my computer to do something that it doesn't already know how to do.  I program because it's more engaging than television and less pointless than video games.Sometimes, it's frustrating or challenging.  Sometimes it feels like a lot of effort for hardly any reward.  Sometimes huge amounts of work have to be scrapped because it's just wrong.But other times, things click, and it's perfect, like a symphony.  And in those moments, "happy" seems like an understatement.No, programming doesn't make me happy.  But programming is part of what makes me me; and, in general, I'm happy about that.