Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

First, you aren't too old at all. We recently hired a programmer in his late 50s, and man are we glad we did (and btw, age was never a consideration in the first place). He's great, and we're probably going to use much of his work as a reference point for future apps.

As for getting into it... glad to hear you've had some success with interviews. My biggest bit of advice to you is to get your hands on a good data structures and algorithms book (Java is fine), and learn the crap out of it. Since you like programming, you'll enjoy this, and it'll help you in interviews and as a programmer. In particular, make sure you know:

linked lists binary trees (be able to code insert, traverse, find on the spot; read about delete but don't worry so much about keeping it all in your head) sorting (quicksort, mergesort, maybe a few others) read about balanced trees, b-trees, etc, follow and try out the code, but don't worry about keeping it in your head Hashmaps (what's a hashing function, how to keep good performance) Graphs are fun, and once you can code trees, you have all the tech skills, but the algorithms in graphs are very interesting... and now and then does come up in an interview. SQL - I still get asked about this a lot... know the basic stuff (select, conditions, joins) cold, and also make sure you know some of the grouping functions (HAVING) and how outer joins work. Anything more elaborate will get you points, but probably won't hurt you if you don't know the answer.

Personally, I find it slightly obnoxious that interviewers rely so heavily on this stuff, but it is actually kind of fun. I always review this carefully before an interview. It can make the difference (in fact, I'm pretty sure I missed out on a job because I let it get stale and fumbled around too much... it's a shame, if I'd spent my usual 8 hours preparing, I probably would have rocked it).

It's a lot to learn, but it sounds like you enjoy this anyway.

One other thing... to get experience, try taking on a small software project for your current employer. Once you've done it, you'll have "official" experience. Sounds like I started in a similar spot to you (math major with some CS coursework), so I had to work a little harder to convince employers I could write code. I think EE would probably put you in a pretty good spot, so you really just need to convince them of this thorough those technical screens (which is why I so strongly recommend you read up on data structures).

Paul, build something..no I am not joking..

what got me back into programming..my A.A.S. 2 year degree is in accounting and Computer Science..my time at Purdue University was in Molecular Biology was that I started building computer applications while at Purdue University.

Once you get something built and start showing it to people..someone shows up sooner or later with a job offer.

also what helps ..show off your projects here at HN..

Your are not nuts.

So Paul if you could build any Ruby on Rails Application what RoR application would you build?

Side Note: In fact all my successful interviews involved me showing something that I built.

I've been doing a lot of job hunting lately. There are a ton of crappy jobs out there for php/java code monkeys. If you can solve FizzBuzz you can get the job, though you might not want to. Python and other more fashionable languages tend to be the choice of more sophisticated teams with higher standards. Simply put, a beginner's level understanding of PHP will get you a php code monkey job. A beginner's level understanding of Python along with an understanding of fundamentals can get you a dev job.

edit: definitely broad strokes

that's precisely what I've done ... I have a (not finished) product, which you can see at http://nift.ie ... that's my product .. I just need to add some more features before I start plugging it ...

Hi Paul,

you're not nuts :) I studied Civil Engineering at university, and then faffed around for the next 10 years because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I discovered my passion for programming at the age of 32 through the initial Ruby on Rails podcast. Unfortunately I couldn't program at all at the time, had never knowingly used unix and so spent the next 2 years teaching myself most evenings after putting the kids to bed.

The key thing for me actually landing a job was through meeting up with a local programmer. I'd discovered his blog, realised he was local and arranged to meet up with him for a beer. He told me that there was a Ruby User Group in town and so I plucked up the courage and went to the next meeting - it was great! At the third or fourth meeting heard through a fellow attendee that the company he worked at was looking for rails programmers. Two interviews later and I was employed.

I'm not a world class programmer. But I consider myself very fortunate to have discovered my passion at what seemed to me at the time so late in life. Many people never do.

And getting a paycheck as a result of that passion is better than a kick in the teeth ;)

All the best mate.