Strange problem, need help

Hey /prog/

I have a programming-related problem, and if you guys could help me out, I'd be forever grateful.

I used to program a lot, and made complex stuff without much trouble. For some reason, I stopped programming and thinking about programming and algorithms for a while, almost a year now. Now, I feel that I want to get back to programming and do what I used to do, but for some reason I can't.

I try to read my old source code, but I can't even wrap my head around the hacks and techniques I used before, it just blows right over my head. I try to read about the things I used before, but now I can't even begin to understand those things that seem to have had come so easily before.

I'm scared that I'm getting stupider, /prog/, and that I won't be able to program anymore like I used to. It's not so bad seeing that I regressed, as that is expected if I didn't program for an entire year, but what makes me depressed is that I can't seem to recover from it, that I seem to be stuck in a state of less understanding.

My question is this: Have any of you guys ever had a similar experience/feeling? How did you overcome it and get back to your hobby and passion? I would really appreciate any help you guys have to offer.

>>7

Similar to >>4 If your old code is not understandable or using hacks, it's probably not very good.
I don't think you've gotten any stupider. You just didn't comment that code very well, and it's probably way more convoluted than it has to be. Remember, just because something works doesn't mean it's a good solution.
Hacks are also not good, you should be doing things in a supported way to avoid headaches later. If you have to using an undocumented or unsupported way of doing things you probably haven't thought about the situation long enough, or the tools you are using to accomplish it are inappropriate.

I doubt you lost any skills. Only knowledge is lost over time, usually.