4 ms·

I'm a little out of the current state of the art in programming (retired early). That said, I strongly suspect that little has changed in terms of what a _good

I'm a little out of the current state of the art in programming (retired early). That said, I strongly suspect that little has changed in terms of what a _good_ programmer is worth. I stress "good". Good programmers are rare and I suspect will always be in demand. And age doesn't make you not good. Just as a for instance (statistically valid sampling of one :), I had a guy working with me, Rick Smith, who is older than I am (I'm 55) and he is one of the most productive programmers I've ever met. Just amazing what he can get done, I really don't understand how he does it, I'm nowhere near that good. But he's as good as I was at my best so I think it is possible to be old and good. But it is a lot harder than being young and good. I used to be able to pour myself a glass of wine in the evening, sit down, and hammer out a couple of really good commits. These days not so much. Forget the wine, it's rare that I have the juice to do anything useful, those really good coding days are not something I can just switch on like I used to. They come to me when they want and I have to grab 'em and ride them as far as I can because it will be a month or more before I get another one. I'm talking about those really productive coding sessions where you have all the state in your head, you see the code, you see the docs, you see the test cases, you see how it all fits together and you are just typing it in as fast as you can. Don't get those like I used to. My Dad once told me that you are basically done doing anything significant by the time you are 35 (he was high energy theoretical nuclear physics). I've certainly proved him wrong, I did plenty of work that I'm proud of in my 40's, but 50's? Hmm, not so much. It gets hard. Sorry to be a downer, I guess. If I were to offer up any hope I'd say stay as fit as you can. Healthy body, healthy mind and all that.

Danihan 10y ago
You sure you just don't need TRT? Hormone levels get worky by your 50's
- luckydude 10y ago
  I have no idea. My bits and pieces all seem to still work (not that anyone wants them) if that's any indication. And I stay busy, just with other stuff like this: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/17/mountain-vigilantes-tackle-plague-of-potholes/ http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/17/mountain-vigilantes-ta... Yeah, don't get me started on how my county (doesn't) maintain[s] roads. It's depressing and it's not just here. But I'll ask my doctor if TRT is right for me. I actually will though I sound like a crappy TV ad.
  - pugworthy 10y ago
    You sound like you've got potential to be a burner ;)
    - luckydude 10y ago
      Sorry to be so old, but what's a burner? Pot smoker? If so, I've never found pot and programming to mix, for me. Might work for other people, I still remember being stoned at a terminal hooked to a VAX 780 runing 4.3BSD. It's when I learned what the hjkl keys did in vi (I used arrow keys, shoot me). A wasted hour or two of looking down, hitting the j key, looking up, thinking "did it move? I'm not sure, lemme try again". Not my best work :) Or burnt out? Maybe, I dunno. So what's a burner?
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        I believe pugworthy meant something like this: http://journal.burningman.org/2008/06/opinion/serious-stuff/what-is-a-burner-anyway/ http://journal.burningman.org/2008/06/opinion/serious-stuff/... "Still, the majority consensus appears to be something more broadly defined; it seems like maybe being a Burner is not about where you’ve been, or what you’ve attended, but what you do, and how you live."
        pugworthy 10y ago
        Correct, thanks.
        luckydude 10y ago
        Huh, well reading the link, if you think I'm a burner, that's a compliment in my book. Thanks! I credit my youth in Wisconsin with giving me a desire to help other people. You pretty much have to have that attitude in the winter, everyone is helping push each other out of the snowbanks. It was just sort of what you did, I didn't think about it until I moved to California and found that it was less common out here. Much more common in the Santa Cruz mountains, which is part of why I live there.
toomuchtodo 10y ago
Thanks for this. Appreciate the advice from your experience.

Danihan 10y ago

You sure you just don't need TRT? Hormone levels get worky by your 50's

luckydude 10y ago
I have no idea. My bits and pieces all seem to still work (not that anyone wants them) if that's any indication. And I stay busy, just with other stuff like this: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/17/mountain-vigilantes-tackle-plague-of-potholes/ http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/17/mountain-vigilantes-ta... Yeah, don't get me started on how my county (doesn't) maintain[s] roads. It's depressing and it's not just here. But I'll ask my doctor if TRT is right for me. I actually will though I sound like a crappy TV ad.
- pugworthy 10y ago
  You sound like you've got potential to be a burner ;)
  - luckydude 10y ago
    Sorry to be so old, but what's a burner? Pot smoker? If so, I've never found pot and programming to mix, for me. Might work for other people, I still remember being stoned at a terminal hooked to a VAX 780 runing 4.3BSD. It's when I learned what the hjkl keys did in vi (I used arrow keys, shoot me). A wasted hour or two of looking down, hitting the j key, looking up, thinking "did it move? I'm not sure, lemme try again". Not my best work :) Or burnt out? Maybe, I dunno. So what's a burner?
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      I believe pugworthy meant something like this: http://journal.burningman.org/2008/06/opinion/serious-stuff/what-is-a-burner-anyway/ http://journal.burningman.org/2008/06/opinion/serious-stuff/... "Still, the majority consensus appears to be something more broadly defined; it seems like maybe being a Burner is not about where you’ve been, or what you’ve attended, but what you do, and how you live."
      - pugworthy 10y ago
        Correct, thanks.
        luckydude 10y ago
        Huh, well reading the link, if you think I'm a burner, that's a compliment in my book. Thanks! I credit my youth in Wisconsin with giving me a desire to help other people. You pretty much have to have that attitude in the winter, everyone is helping push each other out of the snowbanks. It was just sort of what you did, I didn't think about it until I moved to California and found that it was less common out here. Much more common in the Santa Cruz mountains, which is part of why I live there.

toomuchtodo 10y ago

Thanks for this. Appreciate the advice from your experience.