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I am now retired after 40+ years mostly front end coding and the only examples of my work still running are some plain old javascript game sites from 2005. I sw

I am now retired after 40+ years mostly front end coding and the only examples of my work still running are some plain old javascript game sites from 2005. I switched frameworks/languages/toolsets about a dozen times over the years and finally reached the point where I was too old to learn the new stuff (React and its evolving ecosystem). Some tools have a longer than average shelf life - things like Unix utils, jQuery, git, node - what are your favorites?

816238721639812 6y ago
Why did you feel that you were too old to learn the newer frameworks, if you don’t mind me asking? For context, I’m a young(ish) developer and I often wonder at which age will my brain plasticity will stop being able to learn and keep up in this career. I’m also curious if rather than brain plasticity being a problem in the future, the more likely issue will be losing enthusiasm to constantly learn the latest shiny framework.
- tylerchilds 6y ago
  Not who you asked, but I'm 31 right now. Started doing frontend at 17. When I turned 30 I made a conscious decision to not use any more free time to keep up with the ever evolving landscape. I'm not sure if it's my brain losing plasticity or if I'm just realizing how much keeping up with all of the latest technologies doesn't actually make me better at my job. My job being to leverage technology to satisfy business requirements. That said, I'm definitely less of a team player because my answer to questions now is, "I've got no idea" compared to "whoa, that's really lucky you asked because I just read this article yesterday, let's try that out" It seems like I'm in the minority at work though. I posted this article like, "DAE?" and the answer was nah.
  - 816238721639812 6y ago
    That makes a lot of sense, thanks for sharing your experiences. This job really does demand a lot from your free time. I can see that not being a pattern I’d like to continue indefinitely either.
    - tylerchilds 6y ago
      Good luck with your career! Remember that everything can be always be a tomorrow problem if you communicate it properly :)

816238721639812 6y ago

Why did you feel that you were too old to learn the newer frameworks, if you don’t mind me asking? For context, I’m a young(ish) developer and I often wonder at which age will my brain plasticity will stop being able to learn and keep up in this career. I’m also curious if rather than brain plasticity being a problem in the future, the more likely issue will be losing enthusiasm to constantly learn the latest shiny framework.

tylerchilds 6y ago
Not who you asked, but I'm 31 right now. Started doing frontend at 17. When I turned 30 I made a conscious decision to not use any more free time to keep up with the ever evolving landscape. I'm not sure if it's my brain losing plasticity or if I'm just realizing how much keeping up with all of the latest technologies doesn't actually make me better at my job. My job being to leverage technology to satisfy business requirements. That said, I'm definitely less of a team player because my answer to questions now is, "I've got no idea" compared to "whoa, that's really lucky you asked because I just read this article yesterday, let's try that out" It seems like I'm in the minority at work though. I posted this article like, "DAE?" and the answer was nah.
- 816238721639812 6y ago
  That makes a lot of sense, thanks for sharing your experiences. This job really does demand a lot from your free time. I can see that not being a pattern I’d like to continue indefinitely either.
  - tylerchilds 6y ago
    Good luck with your career! Remember that everything can be always be a tomorrow problem if you communicate it properly :)