Nobody said it yet, but you sir, are a badass. I think many of us hope we will be like you.
Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
471–480 of 555 posts
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#472Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you think it was worth it? Did you like the program?
Have you considered https://omscs.gatech.edu/ ? Disclosure: I am taking my 6th course of 10 as a current student in that program
You should definitely consider it, I am a graduate from the same program :)
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#473Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you find your brain works and how productive you are compared to say 20 years ago? My father is in his late 70s and gets quite tired during his day - I wonder if you keep working it keeps the brain more active. Also it must be weird going to a retirement party for someone who is 15 years younger than you :D
AAARRHHH! A friend has been telling me about her dad, he was full of life and when he came up to my cabin he was a whirlwind of activity. But after they sold the house (he loved gardening) and moved into a condo where there is little to do she can see him going downhill month by month. Before he had a purpose in his life (gardening and house maintenance), now he just has the sit around or go on bike trips. It is a sh…
Bike trips are more exercise than gardening, though..
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#474Earlier quoted context omitted.
A company is its staff
Yes, but company policy and interview decisions don't necessarily match.
That quickly turned metaphysical. If company policy is neither enforced nor followed, is it really company policy? If so, "company policy" is just an abstract term that doesn't necessarily reflect the company in any way.
It really boils down to what I've already said. A company is its staff. What its staff does and accepts other staff doing is ultimately its policy. Anything else that they might have written down into a document that isn't enforced or followed is not company policy, but a way to compartmentalize responsibility and blame once its actual policies come under scrutiny
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#475I’m curious as to when you knew/decided it was time to fully immerse yourself into a new frame of programmatic thinking. Switching languages is sometimes simple, if the syntax is similar, but what about a low level to a medium level language? IE assembly to java or something. Or perhaps what invited the change to study the operations component versus the analytical component?
A lot of people have comfort in their current programming language, and talk down about other languages.. resistant to change. And sometimes they are right because things are evolving too quickly that they could be a fad or become a standard and popular.
Again, curious as to when/how you felt it was a good time to learn something new. And this is specifically geared towards your later years.
I’m in my early 30s. And with technology changing so much, I’m curious if I’ll still be in touch with it all in 30+ years. And how you seemed to accomplish it.
Thanks and I hope I can hear from you!
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#476Earlier quoted context omitted.
So what are the MFC experts doing nowadays? Anyway that's precisely the problem - either get sucked into all the horrible fads or not finding a job. That's a pretty bad choice.
Learn just enough about the fads so you can hold a conversation about them, but don't invest heavily in every one of them. You don't need to tech hop every year - give things at least a couple years to shake out. This will let you skip a lot of the time wasting BS that comes with fad driven development.
This. This is how I treat customer fads as a consultant, so far to good effect. Consulting isn’t too different than interviewing for jobs, especially the part where you have to convince new customers that you know what you’re doing and are worth your rate.
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#477Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you think it was worth it? Did you like the program?
Have you considered https://omscs.gatech.edu/ ? Disclosure: I am taking my 6th course of 10 as a current student in that program
What do you like and dislike about the program? It’s been on my wish list for several years now, but I’m hesitant to commit.
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#478Earlier quoted context omitted.
Continuing programming != continuing being an employee, working for others.
What's wrong with working for others? Similarly, what's the point of programming (or of any work, I suppose) if it isn't helping someone?
Depends on personality too, I guess.
I finish projects when they're for work. Or at least, I stay focused.
My own hobby projects are more fulfilling to me, but I often put them aside for long periods - sometimes years - because I don't need to finish them to get pleasure out of doing them, and it's much harder to stay motivated to finish the often very boring parts when I don't have to.
But it feels good to finish things up too. I can push myself to do that for side projects, but the time and energy it takes to get me motivated to do that when I don't have the external pressure to motivate me is much harder.
If I "retire" I'll probably have to do a startup again to have some of that pressure...
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#479Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are you not yet retired? I can think of few strong reasons, but I would love to hear from you. (I started programming at 8, I’m 41 and I have no plans of stopping )
It’s like in Shawshank. First you can’t stand the bars, then you get used to them, then you can’t live without them. After 50+ years of structured work people forget how to be in charge of themselves.
Weird take. I've been programming for 40 some years. I don't do it full time, trading time for $ anymore, but I still do it to write tools for my business pretty much every day. Cuz it's fun.
Re: Ask HN: Am I the longest-serving programmer – 57 years and counting?
#480You have me beat by 20 years, sir.