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Another "I have witnessed X" so "Y must be true" post. I've been programming commercially for 32 years and in all that time, I have found very little correlati
by edw519 16y ago
Another "I have witnessed X" so "Y must be true" post.
I've been programming commercially for 32 years and in all that time, I have found very little correlation between age and ability to deliver quality software.
I have worked with younger, inexperienced, and uneducated programmers who were willing to learn, with minds like sponges and who were a pleasure to work with. They often found or thought of things the rest of us overlooked.
I have worked with younger, inexperienced, and well educated programmers who thought they knew better and were obstacles to progress.
I have worked with older programmers with the same one year's experience 22 times. Oy.
I have worked with older programmers with excellent domain knowledge and limited technical range. Their personality and willingness to succeed were often the key to progress.
I have worked with older programmers with excellent technical range and limited domain knowledge. Sometimes it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but when you can, results can be golden.
I have worked with brilliant older programmers with extensive experience and open minds. The best of all worlds.
(By the way, I have also worked with programmers of many ethnicities, female, handicapped, gay, Republican, religious, even left-handed, and have found little or no correlation between their "description" and their "performance". One of the beauties of programming is that the easiest way to evaluate your performance is through your work itself and not much else.)
- aaronblohowiak 16y agoI was right there with you until you mentioned southpaws. I really have little tolerance for that sort of degenerate character. ;) I think that a persistant dedication to improvement is the elusive common trait among "successful" people and projects. I agree with you that "code talks," but want to caution people who would be demure that tooting your own horn when you have victories can get you more pull with management when you have proposals of your own -- i've known too many programmers far better than I be ignored by mgmt because they were the "quiet type." Yes, the is a mgmt failure and I have endeavored to proactively "pull out" the opinions of such people on the teams where I have influence, but a light doesn't do as much good when it is under a bushel.
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- winterlightning 16y ago*note: I might be biased personally since I am only 3 years out of college from my master degree From experience working at a corporation, about 80% of the younger programmers I have met are great but only about 30% of the older ones I have met are of the same skill level or dedication. The reason for this is probably varied, but there are reasons certain stereotypes exists. It might be politically correct to say otherwise. I don't think out of school, I became a much better programmer in my years of work, however I acquired a lot of professional skills in communication and leadership. (and a large increase in salary) People should be aware that's what they are paying for in a older programmer and not better programming.