Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Am I Too Old To Learn New Programming Languages?
ProgramadorPerdido writes "I have been a developer for 25 years. I learned Basic, VB, C, FoxPro, Cobol, and Assembler, but the languages I used the most were Pascal and Delphi. I then concentrated on a now-non-mainstream language for 11 years, as it was used at work. One day I had the chance to move into Project Management and so I did for the last 2 years. Now, at almost 40 years old, I'm at a crossroad. On one side I realized developing is the thing I like best, while on the other side, the languages I'm most proficient with are not that hot on the market. So I came here looking for any advice on how to advance my career. Should I try to learn web development (html, xhtml, css, php, python, ruby)? Should I learn Java and/or C#? Or am I too old to learn and work a new language? Should I go back to PM work even if I do not like it that much? Any similar experiences?"
Ditto. The #1 advantage to age is domain knowledge. You need to play this up.
Code monkeys are cheap, but a guy who knows his algorithms and has good domain knowledge is cheaper. Code monkeys will cut and paste, do naive things or write unmaintainable code. According to Alan Kay, on average, 80% of the cost of software development is after the software has been released. This means that in order to beat those odds, good code needs to be written from the start. You should make this case in your job interviews.
For anyone out there doing hiring, here's a tip for spotting good programmers: they tend to work on paper first. Give them a practice problem and see if they can decompose it without a computer. No code needs to be written, just watch the process unfold. Any competent programmer, or one who dares to call himself an 'engineer' should be able to do this in front of you.