55 years of programming, 44 years professionally. I've been lucky to (mostly) do what I like to do, as long as I was willing to wander about the western world. I think the one question that's left is whether debugging is a skill that tops out at some level of experience, or that it's something that keeps improving as experience re: systems and projects increases. I'm also not sure whether one's personality leads to programming or whether programming alters one's personality.

The one piece of advice re: starting in the field is to have expertise in at least one applications area. While it's important to know how to bend computers to one's will, knowing what the customers are talking about is a real big help. Not having to rely on translating intermediaries helps keep things clear.