>The tantalizing just-out-of-reach articulation of a compelling concept.
What out of reach concepts do you have? I've found that, with time, I could code almost anything (barring ultraspecialized programs like FEA analysis etc.). The only thing between me and the finished program is hundreds or thousands of hours of work. I don't see magic in that.
Oh - I was trying to gesture at that feeling you get right before you start implementing a solution. The one where you think you see it perfectly and all you need to do is write it down and it will work. It's the feeling you get right before you accidentally stay up until 2am.
Aim for small things. Creating a small nice pleasant to use intuitive API is like a puzzle. Make a super nice component entity system that 12 year old could use with pleasure. Or a hierarchical finite state machine that an average developer would reach for because of its sheer simplicity instead of creating their own tangled mess out of classes, variables, ifs and loops. Those goals often feel like just out of reach.
What out of reach concepts do you have? I've found that, with time, I could code almost anything (barring ultraspecialized programs like FEA analysis etc.). The only thing between me and the finished program is hundreds or thousands of hours of work. I don't see magic in that.