I spent 16 years as a professional software developer, working mostly on web apps in various languages, from Java to PHP to Rails to MarkLogic (heaven help us).
Since I moved to a management role I now write software that I want to work on, instead of what my team/customer needs me to work on.
And it's so much more fun.
All the things I've wanted to try, all the things that got me into coding in the first place, those are the things I can actually do now. I can work in any language I want, I can focus on the parts of a system I like, and I don't have to meet someone else's sprint schedule. I actually enjoy writing code again.
I think this says more about me than the world of professional development, of course. A lot of people thrive as professional developers; I've got several of them on my team, and I'm endlessly grateful for them!
I wonder if I had tried to do more personal projects when I was a professional developer, if I would have burnt out slower. I'm trying to keep my developers from burning out, trying to help them enjoy their job. One thing I definitely implemented is a "no crunch time" policy and building innovation time into the sprint, etc.
Just thinking.