>Are there younger engineers, new to the career, for whom programming is not merely a job but something they can imagine doing in their spare time?
I'm sure there are, but I don't know any. I have the passion (obsession as my mother called it). I've been fascinated with computers since before 3rd grade when my public elementary school installed a computer lab with TRS-80s. They soon invited me to help teach the "adult" computer class (as a 3rd grader) they offered in the evening to the local community. It was then discovering the world of BBS, then running my own, then coding it to my taste. In college came the internet and the rest is history. I have the theory that it was the timeframe when microcomputers just started to come and grow their legs is what birthed such passion in so many people. I'm not sure how much of it still exists to the current youth generations, but it sure existed in mine.
I'm sure there are, but I don't know any. I have the passion (obsession as my mother called it). I've been fascinated with computers since before 3rd grade when my public elementary school installed a computer lab with TRS-80s. They soon invited me to help teach the "adult" computer class (as a 3rd grader) they offered in the evening to the local community. It was then discovering the world of BBS, then running my own, then coding it to my taste. In college came the internet and the rest is history. I have the theory that it was the timeframe when microcomputers just started to come and grow their legs is what birthed such passion in so many people. I'm not sure how much of it still exists to the current youth generations, but it sure existed in mine.
PS: I do miss those cigarettes.