I turned 30 recently, and job searching does seem to become more infuriating with age, but I think a big part of that (at least from what I've seen) is that you

I turned 30 recently, and job searching does seem to become more infuriating with age, but I think a big part of that (at least from what I've seen) is that you don't even consider the bad opportunities, so the landscape seems more limited only because you're that much more selective. I could be wrong, but I don't think a competent 50-year-old programmer is excluded from all jobs; I think it's more accurate that the list of jobs they would really want has become short (and even if you're really good, people get rejected for all kinds of reasons, and a short prospect list might have you shut out). There is, actually, a fair amount of age discrimination, but most of that seems to be in companies where I wouldn't want to work anyway. On the other hand, I think that Silicon Valley and New York, because they are so expensive, have created a culture where it's socially unacceptable not to be a manager or founder by 35 (unless you've had an exit). There really aren't many good exemplars for older (50+) programmers in those places because everyone but the managers and investors leaves shortly after having a kid or two.