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Been programming for 50 years, and still love it. Can't believe I'm paid to do it! Learn something new every day. I started for real as a freshman at 17; too

Been programming for 50 years, and still love it. Can't believe I'm paid to do it! Learn something new every day. I started for real as a freshman at 17; took a CS course taught by a guest professor. The course was taught using APL. If you will forgive the pun, I always thought APL was unique in its timeless beauty. I've always thought that viewing software from an "outside of time" perspective was something of a secret weapon. It is what I think Dijkstra was trying to get at, but I think Iverson did a better job of it. Started writing embedded code for medical devices about 20 years ago, and that has been a profound and meaningful occupation. I'm currently working on convex optimization code for treatment planning in cancer radiation therapy.

rcurry 4y ago
I’m probably nowhere near your level technically, but I’m 52 and still going strong. I love this field so much, and best of all I’m a hiring manager and so I get to welcome all these young kids into it. Warms my heart when some youngster comes in and knocks it out of the park. Just reminds me so much of being a kid and dreaming about one day being a “real” programmer. Skipping school and reading Roger Wagner’s Assembly Lines - the Complete Book, and hoping some day I’d get my hands on a real computer. Sounds silly, now that we all have supercomputers in our pockets. But I still treasure the memories.