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Ask Slashdot: Becoming a Programmer At 40?

Posted by timothy on from the late-bloomer dept.

New submitter fjsalcedo writes "I've read many times, here at Slashdot and elsewhere, that programming, especially learning how to program professionally, is a matter for young people. That programmers after 35 or so begin to decline and even lose their jobs, or at least part of their wages. Well, my story is quite the contrary. I've never made it after undergraduate level in Computer Science because I had to begin working. I've always worked 24x4 in IT environments, but all that stopped abruptly one and a half years ago when I was diagnosed with a form of epilepsy and my neurologist forbade me from working shifts and, above all, nights. Fortunately enough, my company didn't fire me; instead they gave me the opportunity to learn and work as a web programmer. Since then, in less than a year, I've had to learn Java, JavaScript, JSTL, EL, JSP, regular expressions, Spring, Hibernate, SQL, etc. And, you know what? I did. I'm not an expert, of course, but I'm really interested in continuing to learn. Is my new-born career a dead end, or do I have a chance of becoming good at programming?"

16 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. Good for you! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm happy for you and your new career. Get ready for a nonstop list of reasons why you're doomed, but don't listen to them. If you love what you're doing, do it. Make your own success. Ageism is as bad as racism, and just as illegal.

    1. Re:Good for you! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The submitter should be aware that career management in any IT role is essential in order to remain relevant. You have a decent employer by today's standards and with effort you have successfully moved into web development. If you are passionate about programming in the general sense and specifically web development including mobile application development, you stand a fair chance of riding this career transition into retirement. One thing you could do to improve the longer term prospects as a web developer is seek small outside contracts which can be worked outside regular business hours preferably from home. Above all you must actively manage your career rather than coasting along until the inevitable termination; it is rare anyone works 20 years for a private firm these days even if they love the organization...the organization won't always love you back. Best of fortune on the career as a web developer.

    2. Re:Good for you! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Age-related cognitive decline is a reality.

      So it's true that teenagers really do know everything?

    3. Re:Good for you! by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Remember that the first programmers weren't kids. It wasn't a case of 40 year old engineers who created a computer and then said "too bad none of us know how to program it".

    4. Re:Good for you! by mcmonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      One of the best programmers I've ever worked with started as an accountant and became a programmer in his 40s first with ASP and then with PHP. What he lacked in advanced knowledge he made in spades up by being careful and methodical. He never tried to show off and when he designed something it was generally right the first time and out of the 20 programmers in our office he had by far the lowest bug count.

      Yeah, but who was counting the bugs? Thats right, the accountant!

    5. Re:Good for you! by gothzilla · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm an ex-physics major in my 40's and regularly hang out with 20-somethings who are studying chemistry, physics, and programming. Something I noticed that totally and completely shook the earth I stood on was how much smarter they actually are than people were when I was 20. Kids today grow up with insane amounts of information at their fingertips. They don't have to open an encyclopedia to learn something not taught in school, and they're not limited by the half-page description in that encyclopedia. They were exposed to complex and detailed facts about the world that were nothing more than fantasy or religion two or three decades ago. Their brains grew up with so much information that their brains learned to cope and understand it all in ways my brain never had the chance to do.

      The one thing though that I have over them is experience, caution, and patience. I have the ability to do something right the first time even though it takes me longer. They are faster but it takes them more tries to get it right and many times my one try is much faster than their 10 tries. You've got to use what you have to your advantage. If my boss needs something done quick-and-dirty style he asks one of the younger people. If it needs to be perfect he asks me. We all have a place here and by combining all of our strengths together as a team we kick some serious ass.

  2. Slashdot should be renamed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    to ageism.stackoverflow.com.

  3. Go for it by Niris · · Score: 5, Informative

    No career is a 'dead end career' unless you're awful at it, or it's just completely unneeded (or over saturated). If you've already started learning the stuff and they're paying you, keep at it.

  4. You answered your own question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since then, in les than a year, I've had to learn Java, Javascript, JSTL, EL, JSP, regular expressions, Spring, Hibernate, SQL, etc. And, you know what? I did. I'm not an expert, of course, but I'm really interested in continuing to learn.

    Go forth and prosper. Programming is not like professional sports or the ballet, where there are only a few hundred jobs nationwide to go around.

  5. No. by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even someone that is 70 can learn a new programming language and thrive. The only advantage the youngsters have is the ability to adsorb the information faster, they cant learn more, they cant do more.

    Problem is you as an older person will not happily take abuse from management, thus you are less desirable than a young fresh out of college kid that will take epic levels of abuse and not complain.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  6. To both question: Yes. by mcmonkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is my new-born career a dead end?

    Yes. But your old career was a dead end. All our careers are dead ends. Life is a dead end. We all have to deal with it. You can give up, or enjoy what you have while you have it.

    Do I have a chance of becoming good at programming?

    Without knowing more about you, I'd say a slight chance. But I'd say the same for a fresh graduate from some top engineering school. Good programmers are a rare find. The best we can hope for is your maturity and experience leads you to spend more time considering edge cases and maintainability and less time trying to impress people with cleverness and flash.

  7. You're fine if you don't want to leave by Quirkz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Most of the ageism seems to come with the hiring company. If you're at a company that's already supporting you, and it appears they are, then you're not going to have problems as long as you stay. Obstacles may only start to crop up if/when you want to move. Even then I think the horror stories are exaggerated - we've got programmers in their 40's or 50's here who were relatively new hires, but we're a smaller and perhaps nontraditional company. I think you ought to still have plenty of options, but you may struggle if you try to pick certain large and established firms with a reputation for ageism, including most of the gaming industry.

    Best of luck to you! I'm actually still pushing back my plans to reinvent myself as a programmer (trying to get through kids before changing career paths) and I know I won't get to it before I'm 40. Despite the general negativity about my prospects, I don't expect that to stop me from eventually making the transition.

    --
    The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
  8. Full Steam Forward by msmonroe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My career is better than ever and I am over 40. Think our society just wants us older people to go away after a certain age. I know a lot of people my age in my profession become PM's, what a sucky worthless job btw. I plan on programming until I drop dead. Just read this study. http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2013/04/30/older-software-developers-may-be-better-than-you-think/ BTW most of the thoughts about the decline in mental abilities after a certain age are also myths.

  9. Re:it's at a dead end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    With the worst first comment ever.

  10. Re:it's at a dead end by TheSpoom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, the guy should totally judge his employability by a theoretical programming robot that doesn't currently exist.

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
  11. Re:Go for it by Grampa+John · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I made the transition at about age 40, 25 years ago, and it was an excellent career move. But I also spent some time taking CSci courses as a part-time student. There are important issues you should understand that are not in any programming-language handbook or website. These include the problems of concurrency (race conditions, deadlocks), complexity of algorithms, and the basic data structures. Good luck to you!