I’m the same way. I thought websites were cool and wanted to make one. So I did and taught myself. Then I took a class at my high school, then again at the local community college once I could do concurrent enrollment. In college, I worked on software projects to relax from my CS classes, and I still do that today.

Even if AI takes my job, I’ll probably still hack on stuff. I’m in it because I love software dev. I probably could’ve climbed the ladder long ago, but that would’ve required sacrificing what I want to do.

So yeah, hopefully I can keep making money with my hobby, but I’m not interested in becoming a corporate hack just to make a buck.