Should software developers quit after 40?

[@Ningishzidd4]

Turning 50 and still am the most productive developer on the team, these youngsters don't have the experience to keep up. And I'm still hungry to learn, I think that's probably the most important.

[@zoeherriot]

That's definitely the key - keep learning - I don't feel any less intelligent than I did when I was 20.

[@HCforLife1]

Yup - I am 39, yet working mostly with 20-28 years old. Funny enough - I got only 5 years of experience so often are less experienced than younger guys. Still I can see that my hunger to learn is not less then theirs.

[@senior_java]

Just get OE, mate

[@CallousCoder]

I’m 51 and same here, I work part time because of some weird auto immune disease in the 4 to 5 hours I put it (not even being 100% feeling great) I do more than the millennials and genzers. I am the one who constantly remind them that their stuff isn’t meeting compliance standards, when there are little issues they ate too easy to conclude “it was an infra hiccup”. Because usually it isn’t and if you make that claim prove it! When software doesn’t perform who they call? Me! Because we oldies really know the whole stack from network hardware, to IP and TCP up to the terrible web presentation layers of today. Because we simply had to do it all. And without all the highlevel abstractions - this is where most youngsters go wrong. They can’t troubleshoot deep problems because they lack that lowlevel understanding and experience.

[@matt1720]

54 and been programming since 1979. Keep up learning is key... so so key

[@TKnuckles333]

I’m 58. Been developing software since the mid 90s. I think I’m at the peak of my skills and have no intention of quitting anytime soon.

[@matilha2020]

legend

[@shyft09]

love it

[@SiegfriedFarnonMRCVS]

Same

[@stevehancock2396]

Same

[@brinckau]

You should quit soon. 58 years old is not really old, but you are getting closer to the last stage of your life. On your deathbed, you probably won't think "If only I had spent a few more years working on the project of somebody else in a company". If you want to keep developing software, then at least do it for yourself. Programmers who are remembered are mostly those who worked on a personal project (Donald Knuth - TeX, Linus Torvalds - Linux, Fabrice Bellard - ffmpeg, Ton Roosendaal - Blender, etc.). Commercial products can be famous, but who knows the names of the developers who work on Google Chrome, Photoshop, Mac OS, etc.? Nobody.

[@dionysios4714]

Quit? lol, 40 here. I literally just broke into the industry this year - self taught.

[@Dismanameboi]

I'm 41 and just starting my programming career!

[@annekekramer3835]

42 and started learning Python a few months ago

[@michaelharrington5860]

Do you have any advice for someone trying to break in?

[@Showmatic]

I started at 39, self taught as well

[@mjpthetrucker9485]

41 chasing Rust and Java. Never too old!

[@daftstuff6406]

Im turning 68 and have been programming since the age of 15 (in fortran on cards you marked with a pencil!). I program most days and am still supporting a large aviation business as my main client now for the last 25 years. Currently embarked on my most major development work ever using django and svelte for a multi platform SAAS PWA. If you love doing something - i.e. have a passion for it - then you will just keep doing it. As for me, I can't imagine ever stopping or retiring from it.

[@carelsteenekamp4123]

Me too, turning 69 soon. I have long abandoned the notion that my 50+ years of experience has any relevance. It is essential to continuously align your thinking to current best technology and practices.

[@daftstuff6406]

@@carelsteenekamp4123 I couldn't agree more. One of my oddest observations over the years is that instead of programming becoming more straightforward with the advent of the web and mass useage it became way more complex. That's why I recently chose Svelte as it's moved closer to simplicity. And also past experience can sometimes be a hindrance so realigning thinking is essential - definitely.

[@TheBadFred]

There is still some legacy Fortran and Cobol code running on some Mainframes.

[@ethiodude9886]

I'm 42 , about to launch my 1st app on the store . I'm on the testing period

[@TomGregoryTech]

Good luck with the launch 👍

[@kajackdfw72]

I started at 46, I am 63 and at the top of my game.

[@RoberGC]

I've been programming since I was 16, and now I'm over 52, still going strong! 💻 I've witnessed the evolution of computing from its early days. 🚀🗿

[@CallousCoder]

Same here 51 started age 10 in basic than age 13 switched to assembly (on many different systems-still a passion if you see my channel 😂). But we also build the first interactive web applications , without all the highlevel frame works. We still had to configure our network stacks manually in order to even be able to write network software. We had to write many of our own drivers and deal with esoteric weird languages like MUMPS, Forth, Perl or what else. That is deep knowledge that really helps us to quickly see and solve problems. But also identify potential issues ahead of time.

[@TheBadFred]

Basic and 8-Bit machine code in the 80s?

[@TheBadFred]

@@CallousCoder There was only Basic (slow) and Machine code for either Z80 or MOS 6502. Everything else was far beyond anyone could afford privately.

[@RoberGC]

@@TheBadFred I started with MSX-BASIC and, not long after, moved on to GW-BASIC, which, once compiled, helped prevent source code leaks. For data management, I worked with tools like FABS PC and Btrieve, which were cutting-edge for their time.

[@CallousCoder]

@@TheBadFred Indeed! I didn't get a pascal compiler until I inherited my uncle's PC. A compiler cost 1000 guilders back then (about a 1000 bucks). And then I went to college in 1990, and I found out about C and GNU.

[@jurgspiess2328]

I turn 60 in 2 months and I am still a passionate software developer (Senior Software Engineer). I just have broader responsibilities. I am somebody with a lot of experience even beyond technology. That helps a lot with supporting and encouraging younger developers. I also am often the one to see the bigger picture and helping to work on the important things.

[@alabamapilot244]

I'm 44. I don't go to meetings anymore. I don't make slides. I don't talk to customers. I come in, go to the back of the room, I put my headphones on, and I write software that actually works.

[@illegalsmirf]

White privilege

[@user-ng1lv5pr3n]

I’m 35 and you’re living my dream.

[@okbrown]

That is great and all, but please make sure your training & developing the younger generation, they need our knowledge and experience to help them make informed decisions.

[@ike212111]

Besides being a dev, I am also a BA. I was so happy working as a dev like you, but my company had an emergency and requested my presence as a BA for a big client. We need experts in my area amongst the newer generations.

[@fenderjazzbrian]

@@okbrownI think we’d love to do this, yet it’s easier said than done. Younger programmers are often not receptive to wisdom from the elders, for whatever reason. You have to be willing to accept mentoring for it to work. It’s a two-way street.

[@MichaelScharf]

I am 63 and developing software since 1976. Experience comes from having used many different technologies. There’s much less new stuff than most people think. It’s mostly reinventing the wheel and selling it as the new cool stuff. However there are sometimes new paradigms, but the experience helps to map it to existing ideas. I think if you do one thing over many years, I am not sure if experience helps. E.g. I have user 30+ different UI technologies, that helps with the next cool new technology

[@dus10dnd]

Ha. I always wonder why developers under 40 think that they're actually developers.

[@razorblade413]

because they have a degree? Yes, developers over 40 have the experience but that doesn't change the fact that younger developers earned their titles in universities.

[@FaridSharby]

because they did developed something

[@dus10dnd]

@razorblade413 haha, I teach adjunct (so, I have a masters degree) and I see these students… you didn’t make a good case.

[@CallousCoder]

@@razorblade413university doesn’t prepare you for the real world. Some of the most useless people I’ve met were PhDs! And how is my EE trade degree (that probably had more lowlevel CS than a CS degree - and definitely is a hell of lot more difficult) less valuable than a CS degree?!

[@jomohogames]

I have a degree, I'm 40 and about 10% of what is valuable for my life is from my degree. Don't get me wrong, getting a degree was a great life experience, but I don't feel I actually learned that much in Uni it was more about having an environment and a way to position myself. I'm EU so might be different for other countries.

[@adomas.jackevicius]

I have started coding at age of 9 with Turbo Pascal 7, soon after I started scripting with PHP 4, and fast forward now I'm 35 years old, still writing PHP professionally, and Rust in spare time for fun. I can't imagine myself doing some sort of other type of job. With over 25 years of experience in PHP, I still do enjoy it, and many other languages I enjoy that I've picked up over the years. I hope my interest will not decline with age. Software engineering became like art for me, there is so much to discover, and so many things to do

[@renanmonteirobarbosa8129]

after 30 usually all Softwre engineers feel a strong desire to reconnect with the nature hahahaha

[@ncubica]

I live now on an islad in the middle of the forest.

[@bithon5242]

I was that way since 20

[@olafbaeyens8955]

I am 59 and no intention to slow down in programming code myself.

[@madkimchi5444]

A developer stops when their hunger for knowledge does. Same for just any other profession. My real career started over 40 and let me tell you what... If you listen to some random child saying you're too old and you decide to quit your job at 40, you were likely going to quit anyway.

[@toby9999]

My hunger for learning new languages, technology, and tools has stopped at age 66. I've been there and done that over and over. There comes a time when one realises life is short.

[@cybernit3]

I am 51 yo and still doing some programming. I feel a bit different when I was 20 or so. But like you said doing programming will also help combined with a healthy lifestyle reduce you brains decay as you age, provided you don't develop Dementia or Alzheimer or other diseases. Linus Torvalds is in his 50s too and still programming but accepts he may have to retire soon. So in 40s, wow, you are still quite young, but wise to prepare for the future.

[@williamguru]

Younger developers are easier to manage, a.k.a. manipulate and force to work for less.

[@lesferguson7020]

58 and still enjoying it. Company has decided nation wide replacement of in-house development teams with outsourcing and off-the-shelf solutions will be more cost effective. So now I'm facing convincing a new employer that age is not a problem. Fun times.

[@diogosilverio1801]

A recruiter recently told me that their client expected someone my age to be already a manager or someone climbing to a C-Level position, not a Sr / Staff. I'm 37 and definitely staying in dev/technical roles.

[@xybersurfer]

yeah agreed. being a manager is a completely different job

[@Etcher]

I'm 47 and nail it every day in work - I'm the lead dev for a reason and it ain't because I'm 25 ;-)

[@jakepyrett1715]

For now, until johnie come lately kicks in . Then, you'll be reporting to a 28 year old who visualizes and clicks with management. Better. It happen to me multiple places

[@dnoordink]

I'm 49, have been programming consistently since I was 14 or so both professionally and for myself. I have no intention of stopping anytime soon! And I just moved my rendering/windowing engine from OpenGL to Vulkan, not going to stop learning either.

[@itscooldawgdonteventrip]

some people start coding at 40

[@pedro.zurita]

Yup

[@jonathanvandenberg3571]

Yes, i started at 37, been employed for 2 years and loving it. Glad I started late, I feel most people my age (40) and even younger (early 30's) are jaded and hate coding.

[@annekekramer3835]

42 and started a few months ago. It's a good addition to my job as an engineer, because I'm inherently lazy and don't want to spend hours/days on something a computer can do in seconds.

[@MrVladyslavV]

I got my first programming job myself at the age of 41.

[@_the_dare_devil_]

@@jonathanvandenberg35712 years is just the beginning, everything looks cool, there's lots of things to learn. When you'll be having around 4-6 years of experience get prepared for your first burnout. This is how it goes. I'm 39, I've been programming professionally since 2012, I went through at least 2 burnouts. Now it's better, but... you never know. ; )

[@DarioDAversa]

I’m 42, 23 years of professional experience, I started my programming journey with C++ when I was 13, back in the MS-DOS days. I’m still just as in love with what I do, and still very productive at it. The only thing that’s obviously changed for me is that I can’t pull those all-nighters like I used to; I need my sleep now. Not so much because of my age, but because I have children that drain me throughout the day. I acknowledge my aging, I change my diet, I exercise, but I also don’t care about my age as a number itself. I believe everyone ages differently, that’s why we don’t all die at the same time. Just remember to be your best self. No excuses!

[@ndotl]

The decline with age issue may be related to people not being as energized about their career and less willing to learn new things. One thing older employees need to watch for is the tech 'Lead' who was never a programmer (or an accomplished one) who wants to paint themself as the most knowledgeable person on the team.

[@Valy18]

Agree with that. Had some anxiety as I was in my 30s about this, however, I've met a nice gentman in a new company who said he had 32 years... in the company. He was as productive as people in their 30s and mid-late 20s or 40s. If you still enjoy coding you should still do it

[@amidaobscura]

42. I still love coding, but not so much for other people anymore-mostly because in web/JavaScript, the wheel seems to be reinvented every year. The thing is, your career trajectory might not be entirely in your hands. After I turned 40, I noticed a huge drop in outreach from headhunters and HR on LinkedIn. What used to feel like harassment before 40, with a flood of messages, has now dwindled to just a few. And it really was a drop from one moment to another. Not like my profile is worst (I'd argue better, with more experience).

[@amitpadgaonkar8830]

Did you experience it just because you were 40 or because the market has been difficult lately for the DEVs? what do you think?

[@amidaobscura]

@@amitpadgaonkar8830 Probably a bit of both but, the timing and the sudden drop was really just after I turned 40. It is known that some companies have this practice. I've seen a couple of posts in Linkedin where people kind of denounced the practice by publishing internal guidelines.

[@shosetsuninja3112]

I'm 42 and have no intention of stopping. I know several people still doing it into their 60s as individual contributors. One thing I know for sure at this age is that I want to stay an IC where I'm actually doing the low level work instead of managing projects and sorting people around.

[@ncubica]

Just go to work into a more mature industries like mining, energy, aerospace, etc and you will find tons of "old people".

[@shosetsuninja3112]

@ncubica Yes, I have been in semiconductors and test and measurement. More old people there too than in the ad business, which is most popular on social media since they own it😁

[@DataPastor]

Left development for the same reasons at 35; spent 15 years in business and then came back to develop. I am mentally sharp enough to be one of the highest performers in my team.

[@jakepyrett1715]

That mentality is wrong for corporate growth and career success. It is not about h9w technical and how many projects you complete. That is worker bee mentality and is not how you get promoted nor compete for career success against up ajd coming millennial and younger talent.

[@DataPastor]

@ I don’t know what you are speaking about. “High performance” doesn’t necessarily mean either “worker bee mentality” or quantity over quality. It means being successful what one is actually doing. In my current position I lead artificial intelligence projects at a top 10 global brand, and as such, I mentor, support and promote young talents, too.

[@yapdog]

You're right. The way people think about development has changed. However, much of what's used today is driving the younger set insane. Seriously. Developer stress is now through the roof!

[@MrBranh0913]

Programming doesn’t really change that much. What is really changing are strategies to solve the same problems. When I first got into tech hosted services were all the rage. Then we got into virtual machines . Now it’s the could. And today we have containerization The reality is containers are a very similar pattern to LPARS ( or logical partitioning). A concept started in mainframes. Even with the front end frameworks. It’s all the same MvC pattern which is just databinding, events and rendering. As well as state management. The way of interacting with this is via frameworks . But the underlying concepts are pretty much the same

[@ErnaSolbergXXX]

Im 41. Only thing that keep me to writing code is the money. Want to leave the whole thing

[@osogrande4999]

Is it because of the clown running the circus? It’s usually the all too common problem, non developers somehow thinking they have an important role telling developers what to do and how to do it. Clowns

[@edwinskwok]

You are not suitable for the field and will feel burnt out all the time. Find something you really like

[@searchingstuff]

Nothing wrong with that. The privileged few get to work a job because its 'a passion'. Pay the bills and find your own passion in your spare time.

[@SebastianBenderSkeptic]

I'm 41, have been programming since I was 10, and now I had one of my biggest shifts in development mentality, still evolving and still learning

[@Joebloggs4817]

Our group in my company is odd in that out of 35 of us I’m not sure anyone is under 30 and most of the coders are 30-55 with by far most over 40. And they’ve retired now but we had a few recently in their 60s. A fair crop of us heading towards 50. We’re all non management hands on coders. And I’m a c# developer who’s now learning swift outside of work, the hunger is there. Most of us are 15-20 years in the job too.

[@jeradrhone8773]

Interesting... Where are you and/or company based? Im 34 and working towards entering the industry by pretty much any means necessary at this point but tbh thought my age might prove to be a barrier somehow. Kinda refreshing to hear there are companies like this.

[@Joebloggs4817]

@ Ireland. It’s a multinational. It wouldn’t even occur to us to discriminate by age. Plenty my age in Ireland active programming. Not everyone wants to go into management. Best of luck with it. I’ve no intention stopping anyway.

[@TheVincent0268]

I am a 56 year old software engineer. I do like my job (under my constraints and conditions) but this was not always the case. I realized that switching a career is not that easy so I decided to continue doing what I did and which I am quite good at. Experience also does count in software engineering, despite the constant and rapid changes.

[@thepetesmith]

I’m 50 and very still in the game, the key was to have one foot in the old world, and one in the new. There are lots of big old software and how to upgrade them safely over time is the new challenge.

[@gjermundification]

Investments aside; Attempted to quit at 50, on my way back in. The mind simply does not rest well without proper puzzles. vi turned into vim, yet again vim turned into neovim

[@CallousCoder]

And it’s still the same shit just looks a bit different. Like I say: “I am solving the same problems just in a different language on a different platform.”

[@gjermundification]

@@CallousCoder Yet the hardest part is to unlearn.

[@CallousCoder]

@@gjermundification unlearn what?! In which context?

[@osogrande4999]

@@gjermundification and the full-stack engineers all turned into full “stack-overflow” engineers.

[@CarlosWashingtonMercado]

I'm 39, and honestly, I will never quit programming and developing. But I'm a little worried about my health. It's not normal for anyone to spend so many hours in front of a computer. That's why I'm incorporating some exercise routines into my daily schedule. I'm also trying to improve the way I eat. I would like to know: what do you do for your daily routines? And if you're concerned about the specific problems we might face as developers, how do you manage them?

[@lafgreg]

Walk at least 30 minutes à day and preferably 2 X 30 min.

[@Pedromgsanches]

Think you are a F1 driver. You need to rest a lot and move your body a lot. Idle time is really important in the long term. My greatest achievements were idealized in a bike ride to shopping.

[@AnttiTolamo]

I am 50. And to be honest, while on surface level lot has changes. fundamentalts are still same. Its mistake to learn methods instead of princibles I would say. Separate your knowledge how things are done from why they are done. If you are able to do this, you will find that why things are done about same. How things are done changes., but every new or old developer has to learn again how its done: you have no real disadvantage on it. Actually you will have advantage knowing why it matters and works. So what does it mean? To be brutally clear, if you want to stay in game dont go too far learning how things are done. Just learn every thing how its done when you need to do it. If its not enough, then you have to ask question if its more important how things are done than why, is it sensible what you are doing? Business and people dont really care how its done, everyone cares about result. If you do something really well how its supposed do and can't deliver, people wont accept it. But if you do what matters if not totally how its supposed done, its ok. Nobody is paid to code, but everyone is paid to deliver results.

[@unabonger777]

very well said!

[@jasinAmsterdam1976]

48 here, though an extensive background in design, I just switched to frontend development and looking to learn full-stack as well 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@ix4564]

Hey I'm 44, programming since I was 12, and I'm just starting...

[@jalonso81]

I didn't mean to say it because it can seem presumptuous, I'm over 40 and I'm coding better than juniors a middle level developers of 20 and 30, they get stressed for everything, the code they provide is incomplete or has a lot of bugs and they don't want to fix their own code cause they don't know or are afraid, and the company is having problems finding young developers with commitment and willingnes to learn.

[@xlerb2286]

I've done my best work over 40 and through my 50's. Yeah, a lot of tech changes through the years so whole categories of things I learned in my 20's no longer apply. Working with enterprise software though so much of it is about how systems integrate, how to handle the forest of edge cases, how to structure an application to scale out, be performant, etc. And those are areas where even though the tech changes the nature of the problem does not - and those years of experience are valuable. When it is time to quit is when you no longer have the passion for it whether that's in your 20's or your 60's. For me it happened pretty suddenly around the time I turned 60. I've always loved solving problems and writing code but one day I just felt I'd had enough. So I started handing over responsibilities to other devs and called it a career.

[@MartinTimothyTimko]

I am 40 years old and I feel, that I think better, than ever before :))). The peak of cognitive abilities is at the age of 40, when you have the highest IQ. At this age you think better, than anyone between 20 and 30, because your brain is more blood-filled. I have only now proposed my own solutions, mini algorithms, that I could not come up with in my youth. The problem at 40 is MOTIVATION, not performance :)))

[@ddxxbb1]

I’m 41, the thing that can make you more productive is dedicating time for workout, walking and running can improve memory dramatically.

[@joofville]

51 and still going strong. Still learning new things too. You’re never too old

[@CaratacusAD]

You're never too old for anything. I'm 49 soon and about to go back into the world of cloud and infrastructure after a 8-year break running my own retail business. There is a bit of ageism out there, but honestly when you have real skills, like development and technology it doesn't seem to matter. It's the word salad type roles in technology with 'project', 'service' or manager in them that are in danger from this kind of prejudice. I would say keep yourself fit, healthy and lean. Eat properly and dress yourself in some style. You're easily outmatch the new generation of Tiktok slaves who find getting to work on time or even going to an office a few times a week a mental health event. Most fundamentals of technology haven't really changed much in decades, it's just the tooling, platforms and frameworks have got better and more accessible. If you know how to code say C++ or any language really, you can easily and quickly pick anything new. Same with cloud services, same concepts as onprem but in one place. Creative problem solving is the real skill that people need and us oldies are great at it.

[@filipgorczynski]

I'm almost 41 too and what I've learned (after about 20 years of building various software) is that in our industry never use "just". Even "just center div" may end up with strange results or further problems.

[@rafaromanozademelmac6095]

I don't see any problem here. I am 55, I have 10 years left until retirement, and I intend to continue working in my profession (software engineering) during that time. My father was an electronics engineer, and no one ever questioned whether he would be able to work until retirement.

[@rochagasdiniz]

I am 51, still going strong. Not only one of the most productive developers I am the one with less sick days on the Team.

[@18hourgaming66]

I work on networking software which was written in 2000 and it is still running the backbone of wireless networks. I was there then, I am still there now.

[@catscader]

Some of the best programmers I've known have been in their 50s or even older. Some of them stuck to lasting tools which were correct in their niche like C for embedded devices, and some just kept an open mind and a joy/curiosity for new technologies. There's a certain benefit to having "seen it all" which lets those with experience better gauge what's going to last and what's just a fad which is really invaluable.

[@jacquesdemolay2699]

Please, can you come back in twenny years and tell me about developers after 60 (as I am 67 and still kicking around to byte the dust). I go around with C# and with my sharp I's wondering every morning - "shall I go or shall I stay?" thanks for the video - the IQ test details was my take-away.

[@AirFuchs1]

Very well thought out content that I just found on your channel. Keep it up! I clicked on this video, because I was wondering about the same thing when I was starting out as a designer working for larger studios. I think family life is a big factor to reduce the hustle. And the kind of reflection on life that is described as "midlife crisis", when people start all over again in ways.

[@Arbiteroflife]

The only reason experience is valuable, that I’ve seen, is that experienced people have seen the how and why technology has changed over time. That experience is valuable for better understanding of where we are today and greater insight into how things work. I always felt disadvantaged because I didn’t understand the “why” of current state of tech.

[@kristianlavigne8270]

I’ve been programming since I was 10 and now 50. After 35 I’ve just wanted to get out of this field but it’s not so easy… companies tend to not want programmers over 40 so you have to move into management in most cases to stay relevant in this highly competitive field. Energy level is not the same so it’s extremely hard to code for 8 hours a day and you need the remainder to just recover 😅

[@makromizer]

One of the key reason why our generation experienced SWEs to generally be young is because it only became a mainstream discipline during our time, not because young age is a requirement per se.

[@arturom9006]

Thanks for this video. It was great to read you guys comments too. I was worried about my age (45) and for how long I would be valuable on the software market. It seems like I have many years of coding ahead 😃

[@ErazerPT]

No, no and no. Near 50 and not quitting, if anything, slowing a little, but those all night burners weren't healthy anyway... If anything, with age you find yourself moving to things you aren't as familiar with and/or found too challenging before and/or simply didn't have time. For me that's micro controllers now. Figuring out what new thing i want to do with my ESP32's is a load of fun. Wish i actually knew anything about electronics so i could explore more so... you can get where that's going ;) p.s. It's a lot different for people who code ONLY for the paycheck. Those will be the ones that branch out as far as they can the moment they can. They never actually ENJOYED it, it just payed the bills.

[@DomCim]

What is this, Logan's Run?

[@osogrande4999]

@@DomCim I almost wet myself, brilliant. 😂

[@blob-465]

I wouldn't, is not like a developer is a high perfermance sportsman that quit at that age. If I can continue to work in what I studied, it's so much welcomed.

[@mafcho4186]

The older I get and the more I learn, the more I see how much room I have left to grow. How do I make my code correct? How do I make my code soft and easy to change? How do I best test my work? How do I help my colleagues avoid pitfalls? How do I make my code easy to understand for my colleagues? How do I make my work truly accessible for all users? I'm still generating questions faster than answers.

[@RarebitFiends]

You have to remeber the career has been growing up and aging with us. Commercial software, home computing, desktop publishing, even this career path and many similar are all developments that happened in our lifetime if you're in your mid 40s or older.

[@DavidDu0ng]

Thanks for doing this. I'm a 44M and I myself questioned myself sometimes if I'm too old for this.

[@gdogmalone]

I’m 47 and didn’t truly start until I was into my 40s. Always worried it’d be hard to learn as I was older, but I don’t think it’s been anymore difficult than if I was younger. Perhaps retention takes longer, although I have no benchmark really.

[@pawelwiszniewski]

I started developer's career at 43, now 49 and a Senior for last 3 years. It's kind of interesting for me how much my skills from previous job (IT support) transferred into this one: communication, debugging process, setting expectation and workflow management. I intend to stay a Developer at least another 10-20 years

[@StephenAinsworth1]

Don't agree that experience isn't worth that much. I feel like as a 'midlife' developer I cut through a lot of stuff naturally, things that would have taken much more time in the beginning. I know what to use and when to use things much more efficiently. Decision-making is much better. A fundamental understanding of how programming languages work, 20 years experience gives you a massive head start when approaching new technologies and frameworks, yes things are different, but they are also very much the same. Also soft skills like delegating with clients, managers, work colleagues and understanding how long things take.

[@Joshua.Developer]

I'm 41 React and WordPress did not come out until 2013ish. Frontend development was not really a career choice before. We had web masters but no real apps. So if your not 20 don't feel bad. Just learn.

[@JiraTicket-zz6bh]

I was coding WordPress plugins in 2010. In 2013 they started adding Backbone and the other bullshit JS frameworks.

[@Joshua.Developer]

@JiraTicket-zz6bh I remember when I first learned about tech back in 2013. The only thing I knew about was Ruby on Rails.

[@matrixInvader]

​@@JiraTicket-zz6bh😅

[@ghostinplainsight4803]

I started programming late at 30. I was on fire for 10 years working 12 hours a day, then going home and learning more. But I just turned 40. Whether it's real or psychosomatic I definitely feel a slow down in my mental capacity and find it harder to conceptualise state changes over time, but I mostly code by instinct now and don't necessarily need to think a lot to find a bug or arrive at an architectural solution. I don't think I can keep it up past 45.

[@Pedromgsanches]

Try slow down, rest more and do some sport in case you dont. Idle time is higlhy useful. Sometimes the harder puzzles are solved while closing a water bottle or something else as dumb as that

[@Le-Veilleur-Silencieux]

I stayed as a full time developer until age 53. I work in an excellent place where ageism is not a thing. The only reason I changed up to be manager of the software department was the stepping down of the previous manager and my place doesn't do "politics". I could easily have stayed as developer, but felt over 30 years experience meant I had much to offer the position. I still get to dabble in code. I agree with the comment about staying mentally and physically fit - eat healthy, run and engage in brain challenging activities!

[@acraigwest]

One of the factors that skews the age distribution is that when I first started developin in the 90s, there were FAR fewer developers over-all. Even if every single develop who started back then was still working, it would be a very small percentage of total developers now

[@THECHILLIPANDA]

I'm 62 and still making AAA games, I've always said I'd quit if I ever stopped learning, doubt that will ever happen, always a changing landscape and a new challenges ahead.

[@tonyperkins6925]

My jobs are usually refactoring old code, re-writing programs for use in a modern context. Usually less pay but it shows that knowledge of old systems are relevant still, but getting less so.

[@luisdanielmesa]

I turned 43 a few days ago and I don't even have a university degree... In the past 20 years I have worked for Novell, IBM, Amazon, ING, SwissRe and now Oracle. I can tell you that my experience is worth more than my age would suggest.

[@jamessutton9323]

I am late 60s and my brother in law is mid 70s, and we are both still writing Swift/C++ code and our app is selling extremely well, thank you very much! We use git too.

[@anthonyglaser929]

I just turned 60 and I'm still coding.I started coding in the 90's and I've primarily worked on either embedded systems projects or data engineering projects and while there have been new developments a lot of what I do is very much the same or just a continuation of how I coded 30 years. C is still C and C++ is still C++. The languages have evolved but generally for the better. I plan to keep coding as long as I can.

[@arasefe]

48, moved to front end development 5 years ago and been doing React for the last 3 years in the UK. I feel like everyday is a school day.

[@dimensionaltrader]

Some of the best programmers I know are in their 70s or older. The guys who invented what we do know more about the people who merely learned it off them.

[@richrollin4867]

I work for a UK tech company. Average age of a developer is over 40. Our most respected developers are in their 50s. Domain knowledge counts for a lot - some of our products have been in active development for over 20 years. Most of our developers have worked for the company for at least 15 years.

[@stuartneil8682]

So I moved back from being a Test Lead and technical test manager, working on data projects, into data analysis. 1st project is on Power BI, DAX & sql. At age 62, it is no more difficult or easy than mainframe assembler, cobol , Visual Basic or other languages used in my 20’s and 30’s. In fact I moved from being an electronic engineer to mainframe developer/analyst in finance at age 26. That was a harder shift than picking up modern languages , platforms, AI and the like.

[@brandyballoon]

Turned 50 this year and have just completed s software engineering degree.

[@ColdPotato]

A lot depends on who you work for. If you're older and expensive, large companies my look to replace you with several devs overseas. Have to continually grow and stay on the leading edge and earn your worth. 50 here and considering the exit strategy.

[@utrico]

I started when I was 24, and now I’m 44. I’m tired, but I still have to keep going to survive.

[@muharief3885]

43 right now, still coding. But it seems that the older we are, the more we go to backend / system path. The frontend world kind of sucks today, much variation , framework release every week that seems suitable for younger developer which had much time to dig in.

[@LewisMJ1066]

I had a work colleague retire recently in early 60s, still had enthusiasm to code away ... and now doing his own projects. Some people just get better. Also people came out of Universities 30-40 years ago having learnt Miranda, Haskell, and now some of those concepts are in many languages.

[@woody-xm5ve]

I’m 43 a software tester trying to transition to SE. nobody wants to hire me and nobody believe me that I can program and write an sql query. This is the reality for me and it’s frustrating.

[@annoyingneighbor4928]

Yeah I feel this. In my 20s I wondered if I would still be able to do the job. I saw many older devs struggle. I still do. At 49, I feel like the definition of senior developer. Other devs older and younger turn to me for answers and perspective. I’m the one they call full stack. If you learn from your mistakes, imagine how much learning I’ve done.

[@annoyingneighbor4928]

Also, the best developers I’ve ever met are in their 60s.

[@ujox3720]

Imagine when your whole life is reflected on your deathbed to only see yourself hunched back sitting in front of flickering screen

[@ShmotraShapin]

Same here, I'm 59 and I have no plan to stop ....

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

There was some research done on mental ability vs age. It's a demonstration of how one can incorrectly measure something. The findings were that younger people did things faster, where older people had more sophisticated techniques that meant they could solve the task with less effort. So you have one positive and one negative as one ages, although the research found that older people achieved overall better results.

[@mynosycat]

I probably take the cake... I just turned 79 and still developing software. I was developing for Atari, Apple and S100 bus computers a LONG time ago. Started with the web when the first browser came out in 1992. A lot of your points are well taken but my advice to "developers" is to stop thinking like a developer and start thinking like a business... create for your own enterprise and not others. Also, the basics still apply... frameworks come and go.

[@voycodin5042]

Actually, now that I’m 41, I understand things at a much deeper level than I did only 5-7 years ago. The distance between a 20 something me and now is almost an unbridgeable gap. Only now do I feel like I’m hitting my stride, and truly understand wider system design concepts, various technologies and methods and how they would be implemented from start to finish in a production system. It’s not just an interview regurgitation type knowledge. It’s actual practical knowledge on a much deeper level.

[@danh9002]

I'm 58. Definitely not quitting. Still love coding and learning new things.

[@rpsimao]

Almost 52, and never have been more productive. Still and loving to learning!

[@happygofishing]

maybe for webshitters but in any serious field like kernel development etc, the more experience the better. i wouldnt even trust someone to be a kernel dev if they werent a grey beard.

[@ncubica]

I guess in any industry where complex systems are required and real engineers are need, experiences will ever be desire.

[@tgj5680]

I don’t get the hate. Kernel developers only have to deal with the machine. Webshitters as you call them have to deal with people. Which one makes the problems more complicated?

[@leopoldo-o7j]

I am 64 . Quitting at the age of 40 is ridiculous. I started working professionally as a system software developer at the age of 36. As a developer, I switch employment every 5 years on the average. Every switch is about learning a new technology and adapting to the changing business demands. It is true that that old technologies may no longer relevant today. However that knowledge(old tech) will enable you to learn new technologies faster. New technology should always make sense by overcoming our past limitations and leveraging other technology breakthrough. We have to leverage our experience to remain competitive otherwise we really have tor retire. Continuous learning and building (software or otherwise)will keep us alive!

[@bungrudi]

Turned 45 in Nov and felt as productive as ever. Will open source my take of Redis compatible server, written in Rust, in weeks.

[@_the_dare_devil_]

I'm turning 40 in 3 months. Lately I got a bit lazy, I went through a serious burnout, but I'm getting myself together. What I've noticed, when you're 40+ and you get interviewed by some youngsters, they try to show off and prove they're better than you. Did you notice that, my boomer mates?

[@erwinmulder1338]

Never worked with developers over 40? That is totally down to the domain you worked in. I work in scientific software and our main problem is developers retiring at 65+ and taking their decades of expertise and know-how with them.

[@GusCaravalho]

It’s interesting the lines of work that value youth to this degree (off the top of my head: professional sports, laborers, military…) versus the rest of the world where experience is a strong predictor of competence.

[@tgj5680]

At 47 I feel much the same way you expressed. With kids on top keeping up the same as I did in my 20s/30s is not as easy. AI as hyped up as it was. It is a great level changer. Suddenly I can get to grasp with a new framework really quickly. In the past I would have had to spent days getting something off the ground and get a feel for it. Especially in this day and age with a new framework or version popping out every other day it helps a lot as a counter to the younger me with “infinite time” available.

[@MrHaggyy]

I think a good mix in the teams is really nice. In your 20's people on average are a bit more nervous and willing to simply build something. I did two entire restructures of how we layed out data on a friday and a bit of saturday, just because i was curious about the difference. When you get older you are less nervous and a bit more picky what you invest your effort in. Those collegues of mine are great at build a playground for the younger ones to send it if they dare. They are also much needed mentally when someones Tech-Baby dies. For the age question we had a guy who is well in his 70's by now. He occasionally comes around for a coffee, etc. if you ask nice. I have never seen someone that fluent and fast in math. Not even the math profs I had would match him in deriving and calculating the stuff we need. I think it really is something you need to exercise and maintain in order to keep it.

[@zf4hp24]

They always say the best sports teams are a mix of rookies and veterans. I agree, and am a big proponent of paying it forward to the 20-something "youngsters" with my experience(s).