Paid pretty well, too. Of course, I have two masters’ degrees (Space Systems Management and Software Engineering) and almost 20 years of programming experience so that's also a factor. I could be paid a lot higher in other parts of the country but I like it here in Colorado Springs. Besides, I already pay enough in taxes, thank you.

One thing to keep in mind is that programming is often a battle of wills between the programmer and the computer. Also, keep in mind that while computers are only one step smarter than your average rock, they're about the most stubborn things on Earth. In addition to occupational hazards of carpal tunnel, severe eyestrain, Lockheed butt, there's also the risk of a receding hairline and flat forehead from beating your head against the wall. Programming may be for geeks but it isn't for wimps.

Over the years, I've programmed in many different languages. A partial list would include Ada, some Assembly, BASIC (GW, Quick, and VB), C, C++, CLIPS, a little FORTRAN, FOCUS (don't ask), Java, JOVIAL (don't ask about it, either), Modula-2, and Pascal. I've also done ASP programming using JavaScript and VBScript.

Contrary to what some language bigots may claim, there is no one best language for all programming jobs. VB is actually a good language for rapid development, such as for database front-ends and custom in-house applications. While doing a contact job for Compaq a couple years ago, I engineered a series of VB applications designed to provide the backbone for a major corporate application. One of the components read a database and generated CLIPs expert system source code to support OS crash resolution for 5 different operating systems. The prototype was developed in a couple days and full production code took a couple weeks. Last I heard, it's still in use today although they may be going to modify it to generate Java code instead of CLIPS. That shouldn't be too difficult given the way the system was designed.