Wow. I sense some sincere interest by the author, but I find this tone deaf. I once worker with a entry-level C++ developer in her 70s -- probably not the exper

Wow. I sense some sincere interest by the author, but I find this tone deaf. I once worker with a entry-level C++ developer in her 70s -- probably not the expertise you're looking for, so I'll answer as someone who has been paid to write software for going on 40 years. To understand what you see today requires rewinding the clock 30+ years and considering questions like: What did the job look like in different areas/industries? Who was doing it? How many such folks were there? What did the career path look like? In my case I pursued a technical path and ended-up very comfortable financially, and took a series of "hard" (atypically so) VPE and CTO roles. I still code, a lot, but that's not in my job description any more.