I enjoy programming very differently nowadays.
I used to love memorizing all the keyboard shortcuts, learning the editor configurations, and crafting little tools that fit my hand like a glove.
I don’t think these side quests were ever particularly productive, but they gave me a competitive advantage few had. While most tired easily at the repetitive typing and jumping around, I cherished the sport. The hours would fly by as I solved little logic puzzles, understood complex interfaces, and designed simpler ones. Meetings be damned, I could reach into the void with my bare hands and contort the code to my will.
But then we invented the combine harvester and I don’t really need my sick scythe skills anymore. Now you can just say what you want the code to look like and so it shall be. It still takes time, understanding, shrewdness, and design sensibilities, but gone are the days of deftness of hand.
I enjoy programming very differently nowadays. I just don’t think I like it as much.