Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#31

Post by jrockway » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 1:40 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #17

I have some cool ideas to implement in the Web... Programmer thinking: cool, ideas, Web PHB speak: some, implement If order to have the right mindset for programming, you must replace "some" with "one" and "implement" with "build". In other words: 1. Is there something that you just have to have? 2. Do you absolutely have to build the first version yourself? If you can answer both questions "yes", then, by all means,…

I disagree: I'm a programmer; I have "some" ideas and I "implement" them. Works for me.

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#32

Post by mbenjaminsmith » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 1:41 PM UTC

At 32 I was a pretty successful as an entrepreneur but deeply unfulfilled. I dropped what I was doing to learn how to program. At 34 I'm an ok programmer and couldn't be happier about the decision. It might be hard to convince the people around you that you're still sane, but if you love it people will pick up on that and get on board.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#33

Post by jrockway » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 1:42 PM UTC

keyle wrote: post #25

Just build it. Google is all you need.

Yeah, be sure to cut-n-paste as much code from random blogs and forums as possible. Don't worry about understanding or thinking... Google is all you need!

It worked for phpBB and Wordpress...

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#34

Post by coderdude » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 1:46 PM UTC

I've seen this question asked by many people over the years. It's never too late for anyone to start programming. As long as you have a hunger for knowledge and creation, plus a fair amount of patience you will learn to program well.

If you stick with it, in a year you will have laid the foundation for your problem-solving skills. In just a couple years you will be able to produce all kinds of things. In 10 years there won't be a problem you can't tackle with perhaps a little more reading online and a few hours in your favorite text editor or IDE.

If however you don't hunger for the ability to create but simply want to flesh out your ideas then you might consider finding a programmer (or rather, a talented web developer) to create your sites. Either way I don't believe there is an age in your life where you just can't figure it out.

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#35

Post by d0m » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 1:48 PM UTC

I think if you are forced to do it, it won't work. If you do it for the fun, there's is no age.

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#36

Post by rman666 » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 1:52 PM UTC

Yes, it is too late. At age 36 all you are likely to be thinking about is retirement and old age homes. That, and trying to remember your children's names and where you left your dentures.

That's sarcasm, you old fart.

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#37

Post by compay » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 2:02 PM UTC

One of my friends in college was a 72 year old widow who was bored and decided to go back to school. She was in some classes on theoretical linguistics, German and Latin with me. She had had little formal education earlier in her life, but was one of the best students and an incredibly fun person to study with. We ended up graduating together.

So really I think it's all a matter of your own personality and attitude. If you're willing to work hard and are genuinely interested, I definitely think you can do it.

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#38

Post by DanielStraight » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 2:14 PM UTC

Think about it like this. They say it takes 10000 hours of practice to master something. You aren't too old until you don't have 10000 hours left. (That's just 1.7 years of awake time, assuming you sleep 8 hours a day.)

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#39

Post by viktorino » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 2:19 PM UTC

Thanks for the positive advice. I've decided. I want to be a programmer, I love build things myself. And yes, we hit HN frontpage. great start =).

Re: Ask HN: Is 36 too late to start into programming?

#40

Post by mahmud » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 2:22 PM UTC

My brother is 46, has an MBA from UCLA, business owner, doesn't need to work for anybody else for the rest of his life, grown up kids, etc. He started with typing classes ages ago, went through the motions with MS Office tutorials .. and now he is somewhere taking advanced Excel scripting, really funky stuff involving ODBC connections and ETL. He is just one of those people who never stopped going to night schools and now he is very sophisticated.

I would say go for it.