I think the thing that’s needed to enjoy programming is liking puzzles that don’t have definite, known-in-advance solutions. It isn’t like chess, because the confines on what you can do are very loose. But it isn’t Calvinball either, since the computer is still just an electrodynamic machine that’s ultimately gonna do whatever it’s gonna do. Hence it’s still far more constrained than something like drawing or graphic design, where you can do literally anything you want to.

So I think that’s what you need to like to pursue programming as a hobby: figuring out how to get the computer to do what you want it to do, basically through the engineering of processes.

And I guess that’s an important thing to note also: programming isn’t about math or logic, it’s about designing processes. It’s like, if you want to come up with an exact technical specification for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you have to account for the possibility that you’re out of bread, peanut butter, and/or jelly; that all your knives are dirty; that, if getting ingredients requires going to the store, your car might not start… Process can be as complex as you’re willing to put up with.

I say all this because, again, you can’t go into programming wanting to make a video game. You have to go into it wanting to play with process.

In terms of wanting a break from reality, you know, writing and drawing are both great ways of doing that. The same caveats apply: you have to like playing with words to get good at writing, and you have to like playing with pencils to get good at drawing. If you sit down and write some stories, I can almost guarantee you they’ll be terrible. Doesn’t matter. That’s not the goal. The goal is to have fun with words.