>So a programming career is so fragile that one mistake kills all past experience gained? I don't think mistakes should be so costly, and in the article the fat

>So a programming career is so fragile that one mistake kills all past experience gained? I don't think mistakes should be so costly, and in the article the father tried to remedy mistakes and was met with misfortune. I don't think he made one just one mistake. COBOL was already in decline when he made the initial career switch in 1995. So every year that he complacently did nothing while his marketability as a programmer declined along with it was a mistake. All in all, I think he's fortunate he was able to make a decent living as long as he did during that particular time period, knowing only COBOL.