I think there’s something about programming that attracts the right sort of people. What could that be? Well, programming has very tight feedback loops, which make it fun. You can “do a lot”: one’s ability to gain power over the universe, if you will, is quite high with programming. I’d guess a combination of these two factors.
I think the feedback loop is underrated (see also, the same question but it’s “Why did video games get so advanced compared to consumer/B2B/AI software for a long time?”. GPUs started out as gaming machines partly because games are fun to play (and making them is, if not nearly as fun as playing them, at least potentially much more fun than making other type of software).
I think there’s something about programming that attracts the right sort of people. What could that be? Well, programming has very tight feedback loops, which make it fun. You can “do a lot”: one’s ability to gain power over the universe, if you will, is quite high with programming. I’d guess a combination of these two factors.
I think the feedback loop is underrated (see also, the same question but it’s “Why did video games get so advanced compared to consumer/B2B/AI software for a long time?”. GPUs started out as gaming machines partly because games are fun to play (and making them is, if not nearly as fun as playing them, at least potentially much more fun than making other type of software).