3 ms·

> The average programming career is relatively short-lived: you either have to move into management, analysis, project planning, etc. or be subject to agism. I

> The average programming career is relatively short-lived: you either have to move into management, analysis, project planning, etc. or be subject to agism. I won't dispute the problems in the industry, but I'm not sure you can really say the career is relatively short-lived. I've been at it for 20 years, and while there are far fewer of my age-peers than there are of younger coders, the number is also far from zero. The "requirement" that you move to a related field doesn't seem nearly as certain as when I was younger (I've avoided all efforts at moving away from coding itself with only minimal effort on my part), and just landed a new job pretty effortlessly. In terms of the topic, I agree that newer coders should tackle a bunch of problems in a few different approaches rather than trying to master them all from the start (I certainly haven't, even as an old fogey), but in terms of troubles I've found lack of free time/energy to do so to be the bigger obstacle rather than no longer being a programmer. Then again, the problem I see most among younger coders is not trying to master everything and failing, it's treating everything as a nail for their single hammer. My anecdotal experience is not data, but it is all I have right now: Do you have a stronger source of information that the "average programming career is relatively short-lived"? I've been at this for 20ish years and currently expect another 20 more, but if that's foolish I'd like to know for (reasonably) certain.

tabtab 8y ago
I've seen several articles over the years which suggest a programming career is shorter than the average career; let alone experiencing agism myself. I can't re-find the prior articles at the moment, but here's an interesting article about average programmer age: https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-age-programmer-2015-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-age-programme...
- ergothus 8y ago
  Interesting. I'm certainly not disputing the agism of the industry, but having fewer prospects is not equal to being forced out and I remain skeptical of the "shorter career" - then again, I believe women are discriminated against in both hiring and opportunities, so I can't think the same of age and expect different outcomes. The StackOverflow survey is likely not a great data source, but it's a data source. Also, one must track for a growing industry - if we have notably more developers now than 20 years ago, of COURSE they will be younger (and drag down the average age). The data has lots of issues, but I'm forced to conclude that....yeah, agism likely reduces the average length of careers in coding.
  - tabtab 8y ago
    The industry has been good for coders and IT in general for the last decade or so, but if the past tells me anything, it may not last. For example, our Web "standards" are poor for many things they are being used for. The HTML browser has been over-stretched. If better or more industry-specific standards appear, then less IT labor could be needed to create and manage a good many systems and apps, putting a lot of IT workers on the street.

tabtab 8y ago

I've seen several articles over the years which suggest a programming career is shorter than the average career; let alone experiencing agism myself. I can't re-find the prior articles at the moment, but here's an interesting article about average programmer age: https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-age-programmer-2015-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-age-programme...

ergothus 8y ago
Interesting. I'm certainly not disputing the agism of the industry, but having fewer prospects is not equal to being forced out and I remain skeptical of the "shorter career" - then again, I believe women are discriminated against in both hiring and opportunities, so I can't think the same of age and expect different outcomes. The StackOverflow survey is likely not a great data source, but it's a data source. Also, one must track for a growing industry - if we have notably more developers now than 20 years ago, of COURSE they will be younger (and drag down the average age). The data has lots of issues, but I'm forced to conclude that....yeah, agism likely reduces the average length of careers in coding.
- tabtab 8y ago
  The industry has been good for coders and IT in general for the last decade or so, but if the past tells me anything, it may not last. For example, our Web "standards" are poor for many things they are being used for. The HTML browser has been over-stretched. If better or more industry-specific standards appear, then less IT labor could be needed to create and manage a good many systems and apps, putting a lot of IT workers on the street.