Been programming for 50 years, and still love it. Can't believe I'm paid to do it! Learn something new every day. I started for real as a freshman at 17; took a CS course taught by a guest professor. The course was taught using APL. If you will forgive the pun, I always thought APL was unique in its timeless beauty. I've always thought that viewing software from an "outside of time" perspective was something of a secret weapon. It is what I think Dijkstra was trying to get at, but I think Iverson did a better job of it. Started writing embedded code for medical devices about 20 years ago, and that has been a profound and meaningful occupation. I'm currently working on convex optimization code for treatment planning in cancer radiation therapy.