Why is being a programmer a good career choice?

People will always need programs...

I used to be fond of Lego as a kid. What I really enjoyed about playing with Legos was that while there were recipe books you could follow, at the end of the day it was a creative medium with a high degree of exactness in the recipe, and the results were primarily limited by your imagination if you had the skill and commitment to bring your creations to life. Programs have those same wonderful qualities that let you make ideas tangible, all by yourself, excepting you aren't limited by bricks. It is always filled with those wonderful personal moments of triumph and pride where you can look at what you created, and know that something that was just a dream has become real. Sure there are constraints that come about programming against deadlines or say fixing a bug that feels unglamorous, but in the larger scheme of things, those are very minor downsides. To use another childhood analogy, I was always a bit surprised about how much baggage cars came with. You needed insurance, you needed to get servicing done, you had to have your licenses and registrations renewed, you had to deal with wear and tear to replace parts, you needed to get repairs done in the case of accidents, and so on and so forth. However, I was missing the point completely in terms of once I realized how empowering the good parts were, it became apparent that the bad parts were noise - and I'd suggest you look at the downsides of programming as a profession in a similar way.  The right way to look at it is if you enjoy programming, you don't have to "work" a single day of your life, and you are financially well off enough that you don't have to worry about money, and very few other professions can offer you that.

I'll put it bluntly: Those people have no idea what life is all about. ;) Follow your passion! And if that is programming, then THE HELL DO THAT! If it's not, then don't let any "reasons" convince you otherwise. YOUR life experience is not dictated by what works or does not work for others. If you do what you love, things will always work out and be continuously improving and you'll find all the success and everything else you'll be looking for. I'm a software developer myself, by the way, and I'm doing it in the way that I enjoy it -- without overtime, without "competition", without working for and with people I don't want to work with. It's all about choice and determination. Go for your dreams, disregard what others say! cat /opinion/of/others > /dev/null && ./go_for_dreams.sh

Being a programmer is a good career choice if your personality fits it. Being a teacher is a good career choice if your personality fits it. Being an animal trainer is a good career choice if your personality fits it. Being an oral surgeon is a good career choice if your personality fits it.Now the hard part is answering "Does your personality fit?"A good career isn't determine by how much they make or how demanding is the career.John L. Holland came up with the best (in my opinion) career personality test. It's simple yet effective.He divided each of our personalities into 6 types. R - People who like to do stuff with their hands I - People who like to solve problems mentally A - People who are artistic S - People who likes to help, teach and provide a service to others E - People who like going from 1 project to the next C - People who like follow rules and working within them People who fit well into programming are usually Is and Cs. These are people who like solving problems mentally and who like to following rules.On the other hand, the worst personality for programmers are As and Ss. These are people who don't like following rules and people who like to provide a service to others.Example of careers which fit into this archetype are: Music therapists Public relations managers Interpreters and translators Teachers Nurses