Re:Five Pervasive Myths About Older Software Developers
by dasil003 on Wednesday February 24, 2010 @12:41PM
(#1148551)
I'm 31 and this is refreshing to hear, however my concern is not so much what other people think as it is job security. My perspective is that by the time I'm 40 I want to have a solid nest egg, and by the time I'm 50 I want to have my fuck-you money, and only then do I only feel secure being a programmer/creative for the rest of my life. Otherwise I feel like I better bone up on management skills to hedge my bets against age discrimination in my 50s and 60s.
Re:Five Pervasive Myths About Older Software Developers
by wglb on Sunday April 04, 2010 @11:19PM
(#1241273)
I agree with edw519.
I have been programming for nearly 44 years. I have done a little bit of management during that time, and I can assure you that spending much time as a manager will erode your programming skills.
In many contexts, managers are more expendable than programmers. in fact, these days, apparently more than ever, highly talented programmers are hard to find at any level. Managers are a dime a dozen, and can get whacked just as easily as anyone.
I'm 54 and "just a programmer". A few thoughts:
- I've done all the other jobs. Now I'm doing what I love best.
- There has never been a better time to be a programmer. I can't imagine doing anything else right now.
- I'm on the critical path. Of all the things I could be doing, programming is where I'm needed most. It's much easier to find people to do all those other things that to build the software. (Not a judgement, just an observation based upon many instances of supporting data.)
- I don't care what other people think.
- If I did care what other people thought, I'd just tell them that I don't remember the last time my boss made as much as me. That usually shuts them up.