I am early 50's and still code around half of my day. I do manage a small team but my primary love has always been development. I'm wondering what resources there are for us senior devs who keep coding? My older friends in the field chat when we are able about the cyclic nature of tech, coding, managing, mentoring and sometimes (unfortunately) strategies for dealing with ageism. But the pool of 40+ yr old devs is not huge in my area so I'd like access to a online community if anyone has pointers. Thanks!
Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
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Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#2Speaking only for myself, I tend to stagnate in a job that doesn’t embrace new tech or allow for much experimentation. I guess I’d ask what your goal is. You could stay relevant as a Java developer indefinitely. You might struggle if you’re still building web apps in Perl.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#3I am not sure older dev need a specific type of resource to learn new
language or skills...
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#4Gerald Weinberg formed a community of consultants that continues after his passing. They post and work in various places, but you might look up one or more of Johanna Rothman, Esther Derby, Don Gray, and George Dinwiddie. They've all had long enough careers that they, like Jerry, have taken on helping other lengthen their careers as part of their remit.
The c2 wiki has some of the wisest, oldest, voices in software development, e.g. Michael Feathers, Kent Beck, and the original wiki author, Ward Cunningham. They are all still active in development and it's worth keeping up with what they have to say.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#5The tech landscape is infinitely wide at this point. Are you looking to up-skill in your current area or a new area? For me, I always look to younger people. They are always the future for a fast moving industry. In particular, I grew up in the era when you bought huge 500 page books to learn about new technology. In large part, that is dead. You can learn most things online, but not as deep.
Is it possible to mentor young people outside your team? (I say outside your team specifically to avoid manager-worker conflicts.) It is a real eye-opener to spend time with young people. Just watching the way they learn can teach an old dog new tricks.
Last: Is there something on Reddit? If not, how about starting it? I am sure there are lots of devs in their 50s+ looking for somewhere to congregate online.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#6I suppose Senior developers, my self included, enjoy fast paces straight to the point learning resources. One of my favorite websites is https://egghead.io/ but some people do complain about behind a bit too fast. Overall, there is heaps of great tutorial on youtube.
If you're looking for an online community mostly you'll be facing many people who are learning how to code. I would choose a specific software and look for paid/free courses that have a community on slack/discord. Regardless of your age, sometimes changing the company you work with can help a lot because you'll on the hunt for other companies using modern stacks. You could also try to convince your company to adopt new tech. Do not be afraid to join younger communities, there days people don't really care about your age as long as you have things in common and a beginner spirit.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#7The tech landscape is infinitely wide at this point. Are you looking to up-skill in your current area or a new area? For me, I always look to younger people. They are always the future for a fast moving industry. In particular, I grew up in the era when you bought huge 500 page books to learn about new technology. In large part, that is dead. You can learn most things online, but not as deep. Is it possible to mentor…
There is r/ExperiencedDevs but some people join with a definition of "experienced" as two or three years.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#8I am an old 60+yo fart still happily coding - I design and develop software products for clients and for my own company. Maybe I am an exception but I've never felt that I need anything specific for my age. I also am quite comfy with young developers when need to interact / collaborate.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#9I am not sure older dev need a specific type of resource to learn new language or skills...
I was thinking this myself. I'm old and salty and I use the same resources as everyone else.
Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?
#10Have you considered trying to organize such a group? Set up discord, invite your friends you know, ask them to invite their friends of a similar age, then share it on HN to make it a little more global :)