Where do all the old programmers go? • Hacker News Board

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#31

Post by mark_l_watson » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 2:54 PM UTC

Many of us still work. I am in my 60s and I still work about 20 hours a week. I love designing and writing code, and I also do software maintenance and devops, and I write about one computer science book a year (working on two right now: one on Haskell and one on Cognitive Science).

I don't earn the very high salary that I used to earn, but that is OK because I am doing what I want to do.

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#32

Post by tgamba » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 2:56 PM UTC

At 49 I am still coding and still learning. I architected and implemented node.js services this year and have done lots of interesting modern web development. I am well respected within my organization and in fact have been poached from one team for another.

Ageist hiring practices are a reality, but not all companies are so biased. And you could not pay me enough to go into management. I want to make things. Perhaps that is why I am still viable.

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#33

Post by swah » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 2:57 PM UTC

drather19 wrote: post #29

swah wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad to hear - do you take special care of your wrists? I'm 32 and with some problems already...

The biggest difference maker for me in terms of alleviating repetitive strain was switching from a mouse to a trackball. Something about not having to tense my arm up and move the mouse all over anymore...

I never had pain on my right hand which I use for mousing. My mild pain is the left hand - two hypotheses: this hand is weaker, and too much alt-tabbing.

I suspect lifting weights already improves this generally, as I have periods of much less pain which coincide with being more active.

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#34

Post by empath75 » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 2:59 PM UTC

I'm 40, and I'm just getting started as a software developer after years doing other sorts of IT things (networking, tech support, sysadmin, etc).

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#35

Post by CalRobert » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 2:59 PM UTC

drather19 wrote: post #29

swah wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad to hear - do you take special care of your wrists? I'm 32 and with some problems already...

The biggest difference maker for me in terms of alleviating repetitive strain was switching from a mouse to a trackball. Something about not having to tense my arm up and move the mouse all over anymore...

Trackballs are amazing. The best one I ever used hasn't been made in years, and if you can find a Cordless Optical Trackman new in box it commands a pretty decent price.

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#36

Post by dredmorbius » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 3:01 PM UTC

Other than anecdotes, is there any actual longitudinal data which tracks programmers and technical types across their careers?

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#37

Post by philk10 » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 3:03 PM UTC

Michigan!!

Worked in the SE of England as a programmer for 20 years, moved to being a tester ( had 20 years experience of how things could go wrong) then moved away from the rat race commute of London to low-cost of living Michigan and couldn't be happier.

Currently learning how to program mobile apps so that I can test them better

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#38

Post by fecak » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 3:05 PM UTC

stray wrote: post #18

At about 40, it does start to get more difficult to get hired. And by 50, it is all but hopeless. And the salary offered begins to go down at 40 too. Sharply after 44 or so. Where I am now, at 51, I have had to learn to get by on what I was making as a SysAdmin 20 mumble years ago. But at least I have a job. Before getting my current job I was having to learn to get by without a place to live too.

If you are willing to share, I'd be curious to hear more about your situation. I've seen salary plateau at certain career levels and ages (40s usually), but saying salary goes down at all (let alone sharply) is something that I expect is not a general truth about the market at large. My anecdotal data comes from ~20 years in recruiting engineers.

There are several reasons you could see a salary drop (stagnating skill set no longer in demand, move to company that pays less, move to industry that values programmers less, etc.), but age alone isn't likely to be one of them.

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#39

Post by kpil » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 3:06 PM UTC

swah wrote: post #12

henrik_w wrote: post #9

Data point: I just turned 50, and I am happily coding away as a developer. Couldn't be happier - I still love to code.

Glad to hear - do you take special care of your wrists? I'm 32 and with some problems already...

Buy a Model M or at least avoid laptop keyboards that are extra small.

Do some heavy lifting now and again, so that the hands are used for real stuff.

Re: Where do all the old programmers go?

#40

Post by bitwize » Wed, Oct 19, 2016, 3:08 PM UTC

swah wrote: post #33

drather19 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest difference maker for me in terms of alleviating repetitive strain was switching from a mouse to a trackball. Something about not having to tense my arm up and move the mouse all over anymore...

I never had pain on my right hand which I use for mousing. My mild pain is the left hand - two hypotheses: this hand is weaker, and too much alt-tabbing. I suspect lifting weights already improves this generally, as I have periods of much less pain which coincide with being more active.

I had wonky, comes-and-goes knee pain which cleared up when I hit the gym and started doing squats.

If you have a body pain problem, "see if lifting doesn't help" is good advice, but you have to be careful, i.e., don't be a dumb gymbro and load on more weight than you know you can hamdle with good form.