Programming strictly as a hobby

As a profession, it's terrible! But for your own personal interest and enjoyment, it's great.
Discuss.

Programming is shit either way. Most programming is completely brainless, like working on an assembly line. You're writing shitcode all day for a pittance. Meanwhile real intelligent people are giving you the orders to write the code and making three times as much as you. They learned to deal with people; you learned to deal with a machine.