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Old developer here. Nice to affirm that these are "myths" in the sense that they are often not true, but given a random old guy these may be quite accurate. The

by Isamu 16y ago

Old developer here. Nice to affirm that these are "myths" in the sense that they are often not true, but given a random old guy these may be quite accurate. These are observations that people have made of real individuals that do not generalize to the whole group. > Myth: Older software developers are more jaded and cynical and therefore, less desirable in the workplace than younger ones. Younger developers are more enthusiastic than older ones. I would have to say I have been both growing in enthusiasm and getting more jaded. The getting jaded part means you no longer want to hurl yourself at something that experience tells you is doomed from the start, but the enthusiasm means maybe this new twist will make it work. One of the great powers of youth is ignorance - the kind of ignorance that enables you to take on projects that are too big and require you to push beyond your original capabilities until you conquer. This ignorance is the source of tales that start: "if I had known what I was getting into...."

tjr 16y ago
When I was about 14 years younger, I embarked on a project that, in retrospect, was way more than I could handle, but I was, as you suggest, too ignorant to realize it. It took me a long time. Years of part-time effort. But I finally rolled out the first release. I learned a whole lot along the way, and it felt awesome to bring the project to some level of completion. I'm probably too experienced now to be fooled into starting a project that I know is way more than I could handle, but maybe I should do some of those projects anyway.
marquis 16y ago
I often look back to a few years ago and assume that if I was approached with the same idea now there is no way I'd tackle it. I'm not near 50 but even having 5 years of experience in a difficult technical field has made me jaded with wanting to take on more challenges that I don't see a genuine value for. I'm hoping to take a couple of years off soon and get back to that naive self and start something new in a different field.
wisty 16y ago
I think 2 of these myths are applicable to any experience programmer, and 3 of them are about the trade-off between using existing knowledge and learning new things. Myths 1 (old guys are expensive) and 2 (old guys don't work 80 hours) are the same for any "senior" (read 5 years + experience) programmer. Young programmers will work 80 hour weeks while they build experience and find a better job, but once they become valuable workers (and figure out how to get paid for this value) then they get better jobs. The problem with hiring easily exploitable workers is that they jump ship the minute they figure out that they are being exploited, and replacing them is really expensive (both in fees, and getting the new guy up to speed). Points 2, 4, and 5 all relate to older minds using existing solutions, rather than figuring out new solutions. This has strengths and weaknesses, but it's generally a strength. The reason older minds use existing solutions is that it's generally cheaper. A friend of mine studied that, and found that when older people are learning a completely new technology, there is a period in which they are not productive (while their brain refuses to switch into learning mode, and tries to find an old model that works OK), then they start ramping up just as good as young people (minus the delay). The reality is though, there aren't that many completely new technologies. Older people are faster at learning new technologies if they use the same model as an old technology that the young people hadn't learned before.

by Isamu 16y ago

tjr 16y ago

When I was about 14 years younger, I embarked on a project that, in retrospect, was way more than I could handle, but I was, as you suggest, too ignorant to realize it. It took me a long time. Years of part-time effort. But I finally rolled out the first release. I learned a whole lot along the way, and it felt awesome to bring the project to some level of completion. I'm probably too experienced now to be fooled into starting a project that I know is way more than I could handle, but maybe I should do some of those projects anyway.

marquis 16y ago

I often look back to a few years ago and assume that if I was approached with the same idea now there is no way I'd tackle it. I'm not near 50 but even having 5 years of experience in a difficult technical field has made me jaded with wanting to take on more challenges that I don't see a genuine value for. I'm hoping to take a couple of years off soon and get back to that naive self and start something new in a different field.

wisty 16y ago

I think 2 of these myths are applicable to any experience programmer, and 3 of them are about the trade-off between using existing knowledge and learning new things. Myths 1 (old guys are expensive) and 2 (old guys don't work 80 hours) are the same for any "senior" (read 5 years + experience) programmer. Young programmers will work 80 hour weeks while they build experience and find a better job, but once they become valuable workers (and figure out how to get paid for this value) then they get better jobs. The problem with hiring easily exploitable workers is that they jump ship the minute they figure out that they are being exploited, and replacing them is really expensive (both in fees, and getting the new guy up to speed). Points 2, 4, and 5 all relate to older minds using existing solutions, rather than figuring out new solutions. This has strengths and weaknesses, but it's generally a strength. The reason older minds use existing solutions is that it's generally cheaper. A friend of mine studied that, and found that when older people are learning a completely new technology, there is a period in which they are not productive (while their brain refuses to switch into learning mode, and tries to find an old model that works OK), then they start ramping up just as good as young people (minus the delay). The reality is though, there aren't that many completely new technologies. Older people are faster at learning new technologies if they use the same model as an old technology that the young people hadn't learned before.