[geofft]

> Programming involves sitting on your own most of the day talking to compilers.

Only if you write really, really bad code. Once you're able to write code that works, the interesting question is what code to write. Professional software engineering does in fact mostly consist of talking to people. I say this based on the "intense political bias" of having been a working software engineer for many years.

I don't think there are many jobs that consist primarily of working with things. I suppose jobs that are lonely by nature, like trucker or lighthouse operator, or jobs where your work product is usually developed by one person, like sculptor or fiction writer?

[thu2111]

I've also been a software engineer for many years. If you're spending more time talking to people than coding, you aren't a programmer anymore, you're actually more of a business analyst.

[geofft]

My job title in fact is not "programmer." (And I'm not sure I've worked anywhere where that is a title.)