On the other hand most of the compulsive types are the hackers and the ones who don t have a real job. So it is kind of a toss up between how you define an obsessive-compulsive programmer. I think that you have to define them as someone who won t quit when told to. I would consider myself a compulsive programmer. Always thinking about how to solve the problem.
Compulsive programmers have a lifestyle all their own.
It is difficult to understand but they get the job done. It is a mentality that some programmers have and they choose to work that way. That is the difference between the normal programmer and the compulsive programmer. They don the same job, but they approach it at different directions.