There is something about making something elegant just because you can.

It is nice to look at something you did years ago and be impressed by what you see.

I think programming is the ultimate form of creative expression.

I do not do it every day, but when I do, I do it for a purpose and I do it with due attention and care.

I've loved programming since I first "met" a computer (mid 1970s, IBM 360 mainframe)

I've always been obsessed with "building stuff" and software make it so much easier to build interesting and "cool" stuff than carpentry, metal and electrical work etc.

I started (and still am) big into assembly language (wasn't really much else available for microcontrollers in late 70s early 80s) and during that time I heard about a new "language" suitable for smaller systems called 'C' - I had not written a compiler before and being somewhat anal about not being able to use something until I know exactly how it works - I decided to write my own...

I was always very into little microprocessor based "embedded" systems (constantly put them it more tech. stuff I built). and before long I ported my compiler to over a dozen little processors, it became favorably known among embedded developers and I formed DDS which sold Micro-C (and various other embedded development tools I made along the way), and it become my main "job" for many years. I even designed my own processor architecture (C-FLEA) to be a super efficient target for my compiler!

I'm retired now, but I still build and program stuff all the time - I truly love creating new things, and programming can make them so much "cooler"!