programmers - what happens to them when they get old

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: betweenDo you think it is possible for a programmer to remain productive into their late 30s, 40s, maybe even 50s?

What happens to programmers who simply don't want to become part of the management team, and prefer to remain technically oriented? Is there something undignified about someone coding into their twilight years?

2 of the best programmers at the junior college where i take programming
classes both got a full head of gray hair. another is a woman in her '40's,
also very good.

a lot of companies don't like the high pay that older, experienced programmers
prefer. also, a lot of older programmers don't need to work, because they made
enough money. e.g. Steve Wozniak, assuming he wasn't bankrupted by the US
festival.

Originally posted by: betweensure, but does it become harder to adapt to new technologies as you get older?

probably. but, so what ? you can still adapt.

i think one of the reasons people say "it's hard to learn stuff when you get older" is because it is anxiety-inducing to sit there staring at a problem you can't fix. a lot of people, in that situation, bail.

i think it helps to recognize the anxiety associated with learning, and to take steps to deal with it. e.g. don't bang your head against a problem for for more than a half hour, take a break.

i started with Computer Graphics for engineering in 1988, then started studying animation programs in 2005. i have days when i am good at rigging, which is kind of the physics part of animation. other days, i need to take a break, so i study materials & lighting, which i call "coloring book mode". (i'm not saying materials & lighting are easy, that's just my escape from rigging & particle effects)

i think it's important to allocate a certain amount of time to solving a problem, before you take a break.

i have more discipline & better time management skills now than when i was younger. when i was younger, i had less stuff to worry about, and way better vision.

i know one programmer who started an ISP in San Diego, then found himself overwhelmed with stress, and ended up using ashtanga yoga to cope with the stress. he told me that "changed his life" - made THE difference so he could finish stuff and get to the $$$ part.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Are you talking about programmers or software engineers? As a software engineer, you can become very specialized and make big bucks. I know many people at work that probably make $120K+ doing embedded systems work. And hell, that is fun stuff.

 

[darkmandaddy]

$120k omg, that high? What do they have, a PHd. in computer science ? I thought that kinda of job only goes with database management. I don't think you'll find something like that unless you're working for a big firm, with an associates someone told me I was looking at $20 hour jobs, and I found a company that offer that kind of salary and no experience needed, but I'm still waiting for them to call. Other places I'm searching offers 60k jobs but only if you have a bachalor. I think what happens to old programmers is that they are put to do something else like system analyst, database management, java, or web-design, this is for CIS major, I don't know what CS majors do, and using the term "programmer" is too wide.

 

[IronWing]

One of my neighbors spent his entire career as a programmer for IBM. After he retired, IBM brought him back as a contract programmer. He started as a child prodigy at MIT where IBM hired him and gave it up when he was ~72. I don't know what his early projects were but he spent his later years programming ATM networks. He never gave up programming until his mind gave out and he couldn't concentrate on it anymore.

Edit: He made a bunch more than 120K/yr.

 

[between]

 

[darkmandaddy]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I'm almost 30 years old. I started with C, moved to perl, then to asp, then to php, now recently to java. When the next big thing hits and the job requires it I'll move to that. Until I get sick of the whole thing and just become a full time teacher.

I'm trying to follow the same path as you, so you go back to school whenever the new thing comes up ? Do you need Masters to teach ?

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Originally posted by: darkmandaddy

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I'm almost 30 years old. I started with C, moved to perl, then to asp, then to php, now recently to java. When the next big thing hits and the job requires it I'll move to that. Until I get sick of the whole thing and just become a full time teacher.

I'm trying to follow the same path as you, so you go back to school whenever the new thing comes up ? Do you need Masters to teach ?

Once you have languages under your belt they're pretty much all the same. I'm pretty sure he just dived in and got the hang of it.

 

[darkmandaddy]

Anyone in Kentucky want to help me get a programming job ? hehe.

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: darkmandaddy

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I'm almost 30 years old. I started with C, moved to perl, then to asp, then to php, now recently to java. When the next big thing hits and the job requires it I'll move to that. Until I get sick of the whole thing and just become a full time teacher.

I'm trying to follow the same path as you, so you go back to school whenever the new thing comes up ? Do you need Masters to teach ?

I'm actually getting ready to go back to school to peruse a masters degree. I teach part time right now at a community college where the requirements are lax. I do have years of work experience and some certificates to back up my claimed knowledge however.

As for learning new languages, I see no reason to go back to school. If you understand logic and flowcharting and have a firm grasp of at least one procedural language and one object oriented language, you should have no problems picking up any language put in front of you.

Most languages just have some minor differences in variable types, object inheritance, and declarations. Other then that it's still a series of loops, conditionals, and method calls.

 

[darkmandaddy]

What kind of book do you use to learn perl, asp and java ? Is asp the same as vb.net ?