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Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

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Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#141

Post by codr7 »

xpe wrote: post #106
brodouevencode wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I've held on to my intellect (mid-40s), just have gotten wiser. And my tolerance for the inane, useless, and just plain stupid has dropped dramatically. I blame/credit that on having small kids too.

Less tolerance? What do you mean? I’ve found my outward tolerance has had to increase. I still have an internal drive to shape outcomes in more meaningful directions. This has driven (or perhaps co-evolved with) the development of a wide range of skills to be persuasive and nudge people. People can be so incredibly narrow-minded, short-sighted, inspiring, and/or wise, sometimes in the span of two sentences. Dealing w…

This touches upon something I've noticed lately, people skills are at least as important as technology and raw intelligence.

I'm 46 and have been writing code pretty much every day since 8yo.

I used to think code was the greatest thing, and would gladly write it for free. But I was also very arrogant, too impatient to negotiate, and didn't really give a damn about the team as a whole.

These days I find writing code pretty boring, I've already solved most kinds of problems in several different ways.

But putting all the pieces together, finding optimal strategies, negotiating with stake holders and making sure the team works well as a whole; I find those very fulfilling and exciting.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#142

Post by riazrizvi »

I found the best resource for myself is Anders Ericsson's The Road To Excellence. The biggest problem I keep finding throughout my own career is I keep losing sight of where I need to focus to push my game forwards. Most of the online resources are aimed at the overcrowded beginner and mid-level end of software development, so after a certain point, you're writing your own syllabus to advance. Or you can just go broad, which I think is pointless. Ericsson highlights deliberate practice, the idea of finding your discomfort zone, where it most matters. I think there is a lot more to it than he writes in the book, but it's a good introduction on the topic.

The thing about ageism is just a simple matter of interests. It's reasonable to think managers and teams are looking for the best talent, but it's more like the game show Survivor in that people are looking for talent only up to a point, people need to feel your talent isn't going to expose their weaknesses. So as you get better past a certain point, it really gets worse for you trying to break into new groups.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#143

Post by aspyct »

scrozier wrote: post #136

I know it's not a contest, but I just turned 65. I'm currently an individual contributor at a small-ish SaaS company. I've been a systems programmer, software development director at a well-known retailer, consultant, and (mostly) an entrepreneur who started four companies. I still LOVE to code. Nothing like the satisfaction, though I enjoyed all the other things I did too. Ageism is real in our industry. Note the co…

Over at 30-something? Damn, it's time I started enjoying retirement!

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#144

Post by jillesvangurp »

softwaredoug wrote: post #13

In my 20s I worried about losing my intellectual abilities in my 40s and 50s What you really just lose is patience for BS :) Sure, yeah, you lose 10% of your raw intellect if you stay healthy[1]. You probably more than make up for it in experience and wisdom. But hell the thing that demotivates me is the recycled insanity of large organizations, egotistical tech executives, hype cycles, and all the other BS. Eventual…

It's a tradeoff. Most 20 somethings think they are better than they really are because they lack experience. Having decades of experience makes you better.

I'm 48, I'm definitely very much improved as a programmer and engineer relative to when I was 28. You think you know everything when you are 28. When you are 48, you realize you had a lot to learn back then. Anyway, I'll be doing this for at least another 30 or so years. As long as my brain works, I'll be using it.

The reason old people become slower is not necessarily that they are old but because they retire and stop using their brains. Not using your brain is bad for your brain. Age related deterioration is of course inevitable. But you can slow things down a lot by just keep on using it and staying active.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#145

Post by hamdouni »

asdfman123 wrote: post #110
lallysingh wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is, so much of is BS that it's physically painful to keep up. Look, someone reinvented a basic lisp-ism in their mediocre language! Yes, new buzzwords for each part that was a function parameter to the original system! Yay! Now you can reduce your boilerplate by 10%! The system is still an unmaintainable ball of mud, but at least your for() loops can now have ridiculously high jitter and concurrency landm…

I think a lot of reasons older people encounter resistance is they don't want to play along with the BS. Lots of 20-somethings would have no trouble working with a graybeard in his 50s if he was patient, played along, and acted as a mentor. But they don't want to work with him if he's rude and dismissive, and there's more of them than him.

What ever is the age, nobody wants to work with a rude and dismissive person.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#146

Post by belter »

The Ageism present in the Software Development industry, is a sign of its still ever present immaturity.

While in any other field...Who want's their house designed by the youngest, freshly graduated Architect? Who wants to be operated by a Surgeon on it's 2nd heart operation? Who wants the Junior Partner Lawyer supporting them on their court attendance?

What would the Abel prize winners think? https://abelprize.no/winners

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#147

Post by superchris »

rlawson wrote: post #46
superchris wrote: post #35

I just turned 50 in October, and have been coding my entire career plus. I still love and enjoy coding, and feel like I have more to contribute by far than I did early in my career. I have founded a smallish dev studio in Cincinnati (Launch Scout) that I started with a few other developers in 2009. I've tried a few different roles as the company has evolved, but eventually realized that I love coding and helping othe…

I love that name. Not sure if Geek Geezer Guild is local only but if you decide to take it online let me know and I'd be happy to help.

Actually, it was in person the one time we had it but we brought in the speaker from out of town. It was Glenn Vanderburg, who is is a smart and fabulous human being around my age (possibly a bit older) and he gave a great talk. I'll keep noodling on what the best reincarnation would look like. I think we possibly recorded it, I'll have to try to find it...

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#148

Post by asdfman123 »

softwaredoug wrote: post #116
asdfman123 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think, generally speaking, you get less "hungry" as you get older across the board. Sure, you could become excellent at guitar in your 40s, but unless you're extremely motivated, you probably don't care about learning it as much as a teenager would. Same goes with learning or becoming anything else. (Of course, everything here is on average. )

I disagree, the avg age of someone starting a company is 42[1] :) I honestly think its truly just about filtering BS. I get hungry about the right things. Just like I get passionate about the right relationships. But not goin to drop everything for someone that shows the tiniest bit of interest me like maybe when I was young and had no idea what kind of relationship I wanted. 1 - https://www.entrepreneur.com/business…

By hunger I mean the raw chutzpah and energy to do something bold, or commit to going in a brand new direction. Not necessarily the capability to do so.

Older people typically have more money and connections. If anyone could start a company I guarantee you more young people would start companies.

And not to mention experience. You may want to start a company when you're younger, but it's harder when you don't know what you're doing.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#149

Post by tasteofmaple »

I'm 69 years old and I started coding in earnest 6 years ago. Love doing it. Last year I retired from my day job and I've been coding everyday for 6 or 7 hours on personal projects. I find my mind has become sharper and really good at problem solving. The only issue I have with coding is it's somewhat of a solitary existence. If I had taken up golf I would have buddies to play golf with. With coding I sit in front of my Mac for 6 or 7 hours, and I have no one my age to talk about coding with.

Re: Ask HN: Resources for older developers?

#150

Post by cushpush »

lelanthran wrote: post #135
cushpush wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it sounds like it's gotta be catered to your workflow. i wonder what this is like, i work out of sketch books and paper+pen a lot. project context seems like a good thing to be able to preserve and replicate between the various frames. elon mentioned that context switching was one of the more costly plays

> project context seems like a good thing to be able to preserve and replicate between the various frames. Believe it or not, I actually named the executable 'frame'. However I'm unwilling to share it[1] until I have a good 5m explanation (it's all shell-based). [1] Well, announce it, anyway. It opensource anyway.

I like to think we ride the same mental wave at times
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