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I'm 38. I've met older programmers that were exceptional (passionate programmers that keep up with the craft, eg. at least enough to be able to explain exactly

I'm 38. I've met older programmers that were exceptional (passionate programmers that keep up with the craft, eg. at least enough to be able to explain exactly why they dislike JavaScript but love Go and Python even if they use none of these languages in their "day job") and older programmers that were mediocre (these are usually the ones still using only the language they started with, programming specific types of apps in the niche industry they started in). I don't think you can pigeonhole this demographic any more than any other, but there is at least one thing to keep in mind -- the exceptional "old farts" are really exceptional, because they have the same passion as any other passionate programmer, plus a boatload of experience. When you really want to ship something, no amount of youth-fueled semi-experienced 16 hour workdays makes up for a solid 8 hours from someone with decades of experience who still loves writing software.

dnc 14y ago
"It is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead."-- Edsger W. Dijkstra
adrianhoward 14y ago
older programmers that were mediocre (these are usually the ones still using only the language they started with, programming specific types of apps in the niche industry they started in). This is one of the reasons some folk think older developers get worse. The mediocre young developers very naturally end up using the "cool" languages - because they're the ones that are popular and fashionable at the time they move into development. Their rigidity only becomes obvious as the years go past and the world moves on without them. (Not that there aren't good and valid reasons for sticking with "old" technology that just works. I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to the point in five or six years time when the Rails folk have to start justifying why they're not using the NewCoolThing :-) I don't think you can pigeonhole this demographic any more than any other, but there is at least one thing to keep in mind -- the exceptional "old farts" are really exceptional, because they have the same passion as any other passionate programmer, plus a boatload of experience I think it's even better than that. Experience can help turn a mediocre developer into an excellent one. I find the idea that some people have that experience makes people perform worse somewhat bizarre.

dnc 14y ago

"It is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead."-- Edsger W. Dijkstra

adrianhoward 14y ago

older programmers that were mediocre (these are usually the ones still using only the language they started with, programming specific types of apps in the niche industry they started in). This is one of the reasons some folk think older developers get worse. The mediocre young developers very naturally end up using the "cool" languages - because they're the ones that are popular and fashionable at the time they move into development. Their rigidity only becomes obvious as the years go past and the world moves on without them. (Not that there aren't good and valid reasons for sticking with "old" technology that just works. I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to the point in five or six years time when the Rails folk have to start justifying why they're not using the NewCoolThing :-) I don't think you can pigeonhole this demographic any more than any other, but there is at least one thing to keep in mind -- the exceptional "old farts" are really exceptional, because they have the same passion as any other passionate programmer, plus a boatload of experience I think it's even better than that. Experience can help turn a mediocre developer into an excellent one. I find the idea that some people have that experience makes people perform worse somewhat bizarre.