I enjoyed this article, Steve, thanks for writing it and pointing to the "joy of being a programmer" blog article. Programming is my first job responsibility, and being a DBA second. I do find programming to be highly rewarding, but it isn't all roses, either. My biggest issues, over the years I've worked in programming, tend to be people issues. Such as working with coworkers who don't want to consider any other option other than their own opinions. Or coworkers who manipulate situations to get what they way done, at the expense of the business or the active project. Or sometimes being so much under the gun to get something done, that you have to do it an old way, or sometimes even sloppy, because you're not allowed the time to research a new, better way. It's just "GET THIS DONE NOW OR ELSE!!!!!!" type of thing. And I really have a hard time with office politics. There's a lot to love about programming, but items such as I've mentioned are a drag to the airplane that programming can be.