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45 here, still enjoying it. and much of that description didn't really ring true. the obsession with computer science came at the start (i wasn't educated as

45 here, still enjoying it. and much of that description didn't really ring true. the obsession with computer science came at the start (i wasn't educated as a software engineer, so my first job writing code had me scrambling to understand the theory); what i enjoy most these days is crafting something well. it doesn't have to be rocket science - it's a pleasure just to make something that is so simple it is beautiful, yet works so well it makes others happy. everything else - understanding inherited crappy code; fixing bugs no-one else can / wants to; listening to clients change their mind again - is just the price you pay for being able to do that craft...

cunac 14y ago
47 here , getting paid to develop since I was 16 and still it is fun and games. I really don't understand burnout concept and self imposed stress some people have. Must be just my luck. Planning to do this as long as I can type :-)
- lucastheisen 14y ago
  Funny you mention "as long as I can type". Recently had back surgery which makes it difficult to sit, hence difficult to code. Got me to thinking about all the things that could cause me to stop coding... Loss of ability to type (fingers/hands lost). Loss of eyesight (though in college we had a blind developer). Inability to sit (back problems). Loss of mind (dimensia/Alzheimers). Loss of motor control (Parkinsons/paralysis). Im sure theirs more, but like you, i imagine I will be doing this until i cant...
  - andrewcooke 14y ago
    fwiw i lost use of my right hand for a few months (it's largely ok now) and it made surprisingly little difference to productivity. i don't think anyone else noticed! turns out i spent more time thinking and less writing than i had assumed.
    - markkanof 14y ago
      I've often thought this was the case, but fortunately haven't had an opportunity to test out the theory. Occasionally I've seen software development jobs where they look for the ability to type some number of words per minute. I think that is a red flag.
    - 0ren 14y ago
      Check out Tavis Rudd's Using Python To Code By Voice (from Pycon 2013) for a cool demo (that starts at 9:00): http://pyvideo.org/video/1735/using-python-to-code-by-voice http://pyvideo.org/video/1735/using-python-to-code-by-voice
radio4fan 14y ago
42 here, and still loving it. I work from home, and can work anywhere in Europe, as much or as little as I want (within reason). I don't have to put up with meetings and bullshit bosses. Above all, I still love programming for its puzzle-solving side, and for its non-stop accumulation of learning and experience. I'm currently having an awesome time in Barcelona, but I've lived in a beautiful city in France, by a beach in the Canary Islands, and in an 18th Century Norman Château (well, in its converted stable anyway). I'm sooooo glad I stuck to the coalface and didn't move into management, or I'd probably still be swearing at tourists on the tube every day.
- andrewcooke 14y ago
  oh good point - similar story - it made moving to / living in s. america possible when my s.o. got a permanent job here.
- boothead 14y ago
  How do you find remote work? Are you a contractor or permanent?
  - radio4fan 14y ago
    I'm a one-man business doing web development. I get my work almost solely through contacts I made when I lived in London, though I left the UK in 2007. Sorry: probably not what you wanted to hear!
    - boothead 14y ago
      It's not that bad, I'm a web developer too and I work in London at the moment. With my day rate I could probably fund a year in a cheap part of the world on 6 months work, but it would definitely stretch further if I could top it up with some freelance work :-)
- jcbrand 14y ago
  Sounds awesome. This is probably one of the best things about being a programmer. You can work from home (or a coworking space) and live anywhere in the world. The article and others like it usually allude to soul-sucking management-heavy corporate environments. It's no surprise to me that people don't want to work there late into middle age (as programmers). I also work from home, have never worked in a corporate environment and probably never will.
smoyer 14y ago
48 here ... and I do it because I love it. In fact, I've been to management and back three times (but I've learned my lesson now). I still feel the same "joy of discovery" I experienced upon writing my first line of code but I'm a bit more capable now. I think there are people who were made to be makers/tinkerers and other that aren't, but fake it for a period of time. If this was the 1800's, I'd be laughed at as a "fool inventor".

cunac 14y ago

47 here , getting paid to develop since I was 16 and still it is fun and games. I really don't understand burnout concept and self imposed stress some people have. Must be just my luck. Planning to do this as long as I can type :-)

lucastheisen 14y ago
Funny you mention "as long as I can type". Recently had back surgery which makes it difficult to sit, hence difficult to code. Got me to thinking about all the things that could cause me to stop coding... Loss of ability to type (fingers/hands lost). Loss of eyesight (though in college we had a blind developer). Inability to sit (back problems). Loss of mind (dimensia/Alzheimers). Loss of motor control (Parkinsons/paralysis). Im sure theirs more, but like you, i imagine I will be doing this until i cant...
- andrewcooke 14y ago
  fwiw i lost use of my right hand for a few months (it's largely ok now) and it made surprisingly little difference to productivity. i don't think anyone else noticed! turns out i spent more time thinking and less writing than i had assumed.
  - markkanof 14y ago
    I've often thought this was the case, but fortunately haven't had an opportunity to test out the theory. Occasionally I've seen software development jobs where they look for the ability to type some number of words per minute. I think that is a red flag.
  - 0ren 14y ago
    Check out Tavis Rudd's Using Python To Code By Voice (from Pycon 2013) for a cool demo (that starts at 9:00): http://pyvideo.org/video/1735/using-python-to-code-by-voice http://pyvideo.org/video/1735/using-python-to-code-by-voice

radio4fan 14y ago

42 here, and still loving it. I work from home, and can work anywhere in Europe, as much or as little as I want (within reason). I don't have to put up with meetings and bullshit bosses. Above all, I still love programming for its puzzle-solving side, and for its non-stop accumulation of learning and experience. I'm currently having an awesome time in Barcelona, but I've lived in a beautiful city in France, by a beach in the Canary Islands, and in an 18th Century Norman Château (well, in its converted stable anyway). I'm sooooo glad I stuck to the coalface and didn't move into management, or I'd probably still be swearing at tourists on the tube every day.

andrewcooke 14y ago
oh good point - similar story - it made moving to / living in s. america possible when my s.o. got a permanent job here.
boothead 14y ago
How do you find remote work? Are you a contractor or permanent?
- radio4fan 14y ago
  I'm a one-man business doing web development. I get my work almost solely through contacts I made when I lived in London, though I left the UK in 2007. Sorry: probably not what you wanted to hear!
  - boothead 14y ago
    It's not that bad, I'm a web developer too and I work in London at the moment. With my day rate I could probably fund a year in a cheap part of the world on 6 months work, but it would definitely stretch further if I could top it up with some freelance work :-)
jcbrand 14y ago
Sounds awesome. This is probably one of the best things about being a programmer. You can work from home (or a coworking space) and live anywhere in the world. The article and others like it usually allude to soul-sucking management-heavy corporate environments. It's no surprise to me that people don't want to work there late into middle age (as programmers). I also work from home, have never worked in a corporate environment and probably never will.

smoyer 14y ago

48 here ... and I do it because I love it. In fact, I've been to management and back three times (but I've learned my lesson now). I still feel the same "joy of discovery" I experienced upon writing my first line of code but I'm a bit more capable now. I think there are people who were made to be makers/tinkerers and other that aren't, but fake it for a period of time. If this was the 1800's, I'd be laughed at as a "fool inventor".