I think programming is more akin to developing and/or manufacturing instruments. Playing them would be the users.
I think the subparent meant the developer experience - this counts as playing as well.
Programming is a lot like playing a guitar. You can play old songs forever, but you can’t fairly complain that they went out of style. Plus like guitar, your skills at playing one genre don’t directly translate to another so if you want to keep up on the trend threadmill it takes a lot of extra practice.