

Ask HN: Do Ex-coders miss the thrill? - sagacity

In a previous life (about 2 decades ago), I used to write code (often 12+ hours a day) and used to enjoy it tremendously.<p>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.<p>What have others here in my shoes been experiencing? Please share. :)
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jgrahamc
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.

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paulhauggis
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

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sagacity
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. :)

