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Ask Slashdot: Am I Too Old To Learn New Programming Languages?

Posted by Soulskill on from the sorry-i-will-get-off-your-lawn dept.

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?"

5 of 772 comments (clear)

  1. Too old by sakdoctor · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah sorry, at 40 your brain basically fossilizes, and becomes a FIFO stack.
    If you learn a new programming language, you WILL forget the old ones.

    1. Re:Too old by rlanctot · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't laugh. Last week I started learning Ruby and I forgot how to chew.

  2. Re:Stay Put by Number6.2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Heh. Don't worry about me. I'm actually in O.K. shape, thanks to contributing to an (>>>ROTH) IRA when I could. The point here is, follow your bliss when you're young, then screw your ass down and prostitute yourself when your old because teh Conservatiods want to give all your tax dollar to Haliburton and all your social security to Wall Street (did you forget that little maneuver during the Bush Years) and you can go live under an expressway ramp when you're 70. Unless that virus that only kills liberals and people over 60 finally gets approved (KIDDING! KIDDING!).

    Bitter? Me? Nah. I'm just a cranky old man...

    --
    "If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him" --Voltaire
  3. Re:ASM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    irregardless, I could care less.

    feast on that for a while.

  4. Re:Stay Put by ShadyG · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe it will make you feel better, maybe not, but even with the bad economy, today's market for software engineers is like INFINITELY better than it was in 1929.

    --
    Nerd Rock In Progress