No Company For Old Programmers

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 <i>well</i>. 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.<p>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...

I'm 38. The difference in what I know, can do, and can do quickly, now vs. 10 years ago is staggering. I can't wait to see where I'll be in 5 years.<p>It makes me confused about the "young founder" trope. Maybe some wunderkind can pick up a lifetime of learning before they are 22, but if so, I'd love to know how, and how this could be a common scenario. It just seems far-fetched to me. So much of what I know came from experience, but without that experience, I'm not sure how one would learn these things...

It took me almost 20 years of hardcore programming to realize it wasn't the programming that was interesting to me. I didn't give a whit about new languages and frameworks and new design patterns. What I cared about was the <i>creation</i> of something from nothing. What I cared about was the ability to conceptualize and immediately materialize: ideas leading to moving digits on a keyboard leading to product.<p>Starting my own company, releasing my own software, interacting with my own users and reveling in their praises or reeling back from their complaints: that's software brought to life and that's what keeps me going.<p>Programming is just the canvas for getting my ideas out in the real world in the hands of real people.

I'm not old yet [only 51, software dev. since 1985] but I still enjoy developing software. I compared myself to a golden retriever in an interview once: "You know how you throw the ball and he brings it back? If aren't familiar with retrievers, you'd think. 'He'll get tired of this in a while.' but it never happens. That's me and programming."<p>Admittedly I've been <i>very</i> lucky, I've never had to do "maintenance", write CRUD apps, had horrible bosses or worked with bad developers or unpleasant people.

Over 50 here. You have to create your opportunities. Want something interesting to work on? Create the project, work on it in stealth. If it works out, it may become an official project and you increase your status.<p>Cultivate your interests. Learn something new. Coursera is pretty awesome - I wish I had more time for all the courses I'd like to take. The courses at MIT's OCW (and edX) are great. Download lectures to your mobile device. Search iTunes U for classes.<p>Write short programs for fun. Check out Project Euler, fer instance. Don't forget why you started programming in the first place.<p>Gear up and get a new job. Don't accumulate too much dust. Crack open a book about interviewing, get off your high horse about what people consider fair game in an interview.

I think the blogger has an Indian background, because in that culture you're seen as a failure if you're still developing software after a decade of programming. You're supposed to be at least a manager by then. Maybe the author reinforces this sentiment by disallowing himself to find enjoyment in programming when he grows older.<p>I'm 48, programming since 10, and it hasn't bored me one moment. I can't really relate to the problems the author poses in his article. The IT field is continuously shifting and very broad, look a bit left and right and you'll discover new things. And if you've reached your Blub Ceiling [1], try out some language which is more powerful than Blub.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html</a>

These days if you graduate at 21 and want to work until 65, the encouraged retirement age in much of the world, that's about 44 years of work. They're trying to slide things up to 72 now, and who knows, by the time anyone starting out today gets there we may live much longer or even forever.<p>My point is, expect to work a LONG TIME. It's not about pulling a few all-nighters for finals, collecting a piece of paper, and waving goodbye. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Do what you gotta do to keep it interesting, because no one else is going to do that for you and the "end" is so far in the future it's not even worth thinking about. Take vacation time, take on new challenges, go back to school and start a new career, stop and smell the roses once in a while. It's your life, choose it.

<i>I personally don’t know a programmer who successfully survived the boredom, disrespect and disregard that comes with age and experience.</i><p>I've been actively programming for 30+ years. Whenever I get a "Hello World" running on a new system or language I get the same excitement as I did the first time on my Apple ][. It helps that I work for a company that values experience and has a technical track so I don't ever have to become a people manager if I don't want to.

Back in the day, when the boomers were 40, they called this the "midlife crisis"<p>It affects accountants and carpenters and all sorts of people.<p>That said, I definitely recognize some of the feelings he's having.

Just turned 52. I just started a new job at a great company, after 11 years with Microsoft (7 of which were my "dream job"). The new work is fantastic, and I'm learning a ton of new stuff.<p>I see programmers get trapped into thinking they are too old and have to manage. After a couple years of no programming they've often lost the knack and all they can do is tell other people what to do. It is incredibly hard to recover from this.<p>In fact, there are lots of ways to get trapped. I won't enumerate them, but "getting into management" and "not learning new stuff on a continual basis" are classic ones.<p>If you become the expert on something; if you're the "go-to" person in a large group for a particular piece of technology, my advice is to find something else to do, within a year or two, or you're gonna be stuck. Nothing lasts forever in this industry.

Started programming at age 5, professionally since 15, now 35. I admit I've gone through short phases of this sentiment, but to me, this attitude says a lot about tolerating a crappy environment (fluorescent lights, big companies, bad clients) and how that can grind down your enthusiasm for just about anything. I'm guessing the problem isn't that you've been programming for too long, it's how you've let the situation become stale. So you've got the 'what' down? Great. Now challenge yourself on the 'how'. You're a software developer, it's literally your world right now. Work from a cabin in the mountains, a ship on the sea, or the top floor of the Ritz.

I know someone who just retired from a career of software development and is in his late sixtys. He has never stopped learning new tech and innovating on behalf of his employer. He, even in retirement, is well compensated, respected and sometimes even consulted.<p>Watching him, I think the key is being bright and choosing where you make your career carefully.

When I joined my most recent company, one of the people on the team was a badass, grey bearded developer who used to work at Sun. He is basically a Tech Lead or Architect now, and is AWESOME. He has tons of experience and taught me quite a bit just by pairing with him. I'm glad he kept up the programming career!

Developing career is like starting up a business, you need to have a competitive advantage.<p>In early stage of your career, your competitive advantage is cheap and fresh. But at some point, that advantage goes away, and you need to find other advantages -- domain knowledge, industry reputation, connections, management skills, anything that can distinguish you from other developers.<p>Once you get that competitive advantage, you will get the desired respect and people will start to value your opinions. And hopefully, you will not find it boring anymore.

Still loving it after 20+ years.<p>&#62; I personally don’t know a programmer who successfully survived the boredom, disrespect and disregard that comes with age and experience.<p>I think to some extent, you get what you give.

<i>In the end though we have to accept that programming is a repetitive activity.</i><p>No.<p>Would you also say that writing is a repetitive activity? I do think I saw you repeating a few letters in your post, after all.<p>Should we view living as a repetitive activity? All that breathing of air and pumping of blood can be so monotonous.<p>Rather than fretting that programming has become tedious, look up the stack to the limitless opportunities that applying your hard-earned skills now affords you. Build on what you know; don't wallow in it.

The guy is depressed. Anybody can burn out on a job, at any age. He needs to get help, not rationalize how he's too old for this.

If you don't get bored doing the same thing, you haven't mastered it. In all professions, one must level up to keep things interesting.<p>Unfortunately, for software developers (and mathematicians) leveling up starts to become difficult as the mind ages--and there's only so much computer science stuff out there before it all becomes repetitive. Fortunately this occurs at just about the time one begins to realize that they're in the middle of the pyramid, working primarily to enrich someone else, and thus follows consulting, entrepreneurship, or, if you don't care about enriching someone else, management.

If my age becomes an issue for clueless employers, I will work only remotely, join the matrix, and <i>become my github account.</i><p>My face will not be old and haggard, but digital, expressive, cleanly coded, and handsomely tested.

I'm over 40; I started late (after studying music for over a decade) and then spent some time in QA, so technically I've only been doing "pure" development for 6 years or so, and thus perhaps haven't been doing this long enough to face the burnout. But thus far, the more I do it the deeper my interest &#38; passion. There's an explosion of interesting stuff to learn these days -- functional languages like clojure, scala, javascript, ruby, python, go, cloud, etc... -- and even if my day to day work is crufty old java, learning new things keeps me engaged. Even learning new java tricks is pretty fun. Github makes this so much easier. I feel pretty lucky. I believe that if you enjoy learning for its own sake, you'll remain engaged by this profession.<p>Now, eventually, I figure I'll hit barriers. I expect these to be mostly physical. How long can one take sitting and typing? I've had bouts of back pain and rsi, and these have been more demotivating than anything else. But even here, I think life is getting easier. More companies are coming around to the importance of decent ergonomics, sit/stand desk options, etc... Voice recognition is coming along nicely.[1] So I'm mostly optimistic.<p>[1] <a href="http://pyvideo.org/video/1706/plover-thought-to-text-at-240-wpm" rel="nofollow">http://pyvideo.org/video/1706/plover-thought-to-text-at-240-...</a>

I've been told by several of my mentors that there are precious few grey haired programmers (probably because of issues like the OP is pointing out) but seeing people like Jim Weirich (local Cincinnatian and inventor of Rake) who are still passionate about programming and going strong gives me hope that I won't burn out (I'm 34).

OP here. Sorry for joining late. Reading the comments on HN here was an uplifting experience! Thanks for all the feedback and encouragement! Can't reply to everyone but I will try to write a few follow up articles addressing the issue in further detail and depth. Thanks again!

I wonder how much of the 'programming is a young person's profession' is due to relatively banal explanation like programming being a relatively young profession and other "demographic" reasons.

Anyone else find that cartoon a bit odd - I tend to start the day a bit grumpy and generally find that my productivity (and mood) improves almost linearly throughout the day...

Started programming at 12, didn't stop until now and I like it more and more (getting close to 40).<p>The author seems to jump to generalizations. For example, from "I can’t find the enthusiasm to program anymore" he goes on to "we try to discover new sources of inspiration". Who's this "we" he's talking about?

As I try to explain to my kids - life is what you put into it.<p>When my work life gets boring, I do something about it, so I'm starting a saas. If you sit around and moan and groan, life's gonna groan right on back ;-).

Started at the age of 10 and still enjoying it with 36, while trying to stay away from management tasks as much as I can.<p>Having fun to see youngster always jumping on the technology of the day every few years.

In Europe you can be 49 years old and still doing what you love. How, because I bailed from the US 10 years ago!

I'm 45, and started programming professionally only 15 years ago or so. Am I counted among the old ones? ;-)

25 years of programming and I am still loving it, especially building tools.

Badly thought out and badly phrased.

I'm young (upper 30s), but I've been programming since I was 10 and I still love it.<p>What I don't love is being forced to work on project after project by employers that don't have the slightest idea what they are doing.<p>At my current job, I've been stuck in the cycle of:<p>-boss will give me the specs -right before I finish, boss decides to change his mind (redesigns, functionality, etc) -There will then be pressure on me to get all of the new changes done in a specific time frame (often not even close to reality).<p>This cycle has repeated 5 or 6 times. I still haven't had one release of the project I was hired to complete. It has pushed me to leave and start my own company.