Ask HN: Do Ex-coders miss the thrill?

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In a previous life (about 2 decades ago), I used to write code (often 12+ hours a day) and used to enjoy it tremendously.

Since then, I generally derive almost the equal amount of pleasure getting my people to create new apps etc. but at times, miss (acutely) the thrill of hitting the compile/run button myself and seeing things come alive.

What have others here in my shoes been experiencing? Please share. :)

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I used to write code for hours and hours and hours and then I ended up going into management etc. I'm now going back to writing code (which I've always done as a hobby) and I'm happy about it. I don't think the intellectual challenge in management is anything close to the challenge in coding.

As I've started my own company and am doing less coding during the day, but I still get that same thrill, but with other things...like marketing

Agreed. I've always been 'rolling my own', even before I stopped coding. Now, things like thinking up a new app, spec-ing out the UI/UX, iterating, marketing and promotion etc. also provide a lot of thrill but all the same, the ghost of 'hand coding thrill' comes back to haunt from time to time. :)

What company did you start?

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