2 ms·
I'm about to turn 40 and at the top of my game. Unless some magic spell hits me when my next birthday comes, I'm not real worried about this elephant you speak
by vikingcaffiene 10y ago
I'm about to turn 40 and at the top of my game. Unless some magic spell hits me when my next birthday comes, I'm not real worried about this elephant you speak of.
It's about staying on top of your skills and never assuming you know enough. Always be learning. Most older devs that I know that started sliding into irrelevance did so because they didn't keep up on that.
- DoofusOfDeath 10y agoI think you raise a great point. Perhaps I'm conflating some issues that should really be separate. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of why older devs get less awesome over time. I can imagine a variety of causes: - Slower learning due to reduced brain plasticity. - Early stages of dementia. - More poorly rested due to kids, age-related physical discomfort during sleeping, or obesity-based sleep apnea. - Reduced focus on career development due to getting comfortable and/or responsibilities outside of work (child-rearing, etc.) This includes less time on evenings / weekends to self-learn new technologies. - Reduced exposure to new technologies, because they're now so expensive that employers only want to pay them to work in their current niche(s) of expertise. - False perception that they actually are less awesome. E.g., they write half as much code as before, because of a better idea about what's a waste of time.