Answer: it doesn't feel like programming!
For the first time in a very long time, I'm doing development on a pure-Microsoft app: sql server, asp.net front end, sharepoint, etc. This is all new technology to me, though of course it is similar to other things I've done.
What's brilliant about Microsoft stuff is it can generate a multi-layer, multiple-technology application in a very short time.
Along the way, I write a few queries and such, but mostly I find myself configuring. Configure the reports server to talk to the database. Configure the web server so it doesn't have port conflicts. Configure the deployment tool to generate to the right location. Draw lines between two tables to configure the data mapping.
I'm not suggesting this is easy. The details behind each configuration holds many hours of potential problems, and expertise pays for itself.
In the end, though, I feel more like a sys admin than a programmer. Perhaps it is a compliment to Microsoft that entire apps can be built without knowing much about code. But, just as I was never interested in being a sys admin, I never would have become a programmer if this is all it consisted of.
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