In a poignant personal narrative, developer esafev chronicles a lifelong relationship with technology that began with wires and screwdrivers at age three. What started as childhood curiosity—disassembling cassette players without understanding their workings—blossomed into a defining journey through every major shift in computing over decades. This account, inspired by Aaron Boodman's reflections, offers rare insight into the psychological drivers that transform programming from a skill into an identity.

"I remember myself as a calm, quiet kid, happiest when I had a bunch of wires in my hands. My parents used to give them to me as toys along with a screwdriver and an old cassette player I could take apart."

The journey progressed from early encounters with MS-DOS and Logo to self-taught web development in the pre-HTML5 era, where "weird and ugly websites" became creative outlets and even revenue streams through HTML homework assignments. A pivotal shift occurred through game modding communities like MTA and SAMP for Grand Theft Auto, where the PAWN scripting language enabled custom multiplayer worlds—a "proto-metaverse" experiment predating today's virtual reality craze.

Second Life became the next canvas, with LSL (Linden Scripting Language) allowing the creation of virtual goods, architectures, and even converting in-game currency to real money. Yet this phase sparked a crucial realization: "I didn’t want to create only for a virtual world. I wanted to make something meaningful for people in real life." This tension between virtual and tangible impact would shape future endeavors.

The HTML5 renaissance reignited web experimentation, leading to projects like JavaScript-animated cloud interfaces and philosophical shifts influenced by Bret Victor's "Inventing on Principle." University studies blended engineering graphics, computer security (including a revealing SMTP server exploit), and philosophy—the latter teaching "the value of asking right questions" as a core programming discipline.

Professional life began with the startup MipoTheBot, a Slack tool for freelancers, which delivered harsh lessons about the non-technical essentials: "We didn’t understand sales or marketing well enough. But I learned an important lesson: those things matter." Subsequent projects reinforced that great products emerge from "small, curious and tight-knit teams where everyone owns the outcome together."

The narrative turns unflinchingly toward developer sustainability when addressing burnout—experienced twice, most recently from personal life pressures. The recovery prescription? A month-long European sabbatical that rekindled creative drive. This underscores a critical industry truth: Passion projects and professional work exist on a spectrum, and preserving the former requires intentional boundaries.

Today, the landscape offers endless rabbit holes: web performance, local-first software, distributed systems, and AI. Yet the core challenge remains balancing focus against the seduction of "every shiny new thing." Through all technological evolution—from physical hardware hacking to abstracted cloud architectures—the fundamental impulse persists: programming as a primal form of engagement with the world. As esafev concludes, the tools change but the essence endures: "It’s my natural way of interacting with the world."

Source: Inspired by Aaron Boodman's reflections and based on "Why I Do Programming" by esafev.