Re:Principles for Programming Languages for Learners
by xufi on Monday August 29, 2016 @10:20AM
(#12381977)
Totally hit the nail on the head. I started programming when I was about 15 or so, but I left it for a few years. Im pretty much at the spot you're in right now and I'm just more fascinated with the subject than ever before even though I've been into computers since I was a little kid. Also again totally agree with you about the "money grab", even a friend of mine who does this for a living and is quite ab it older than me says he doesn't care about work off time because when he's out of the office for the day, he's done.
1. It's quite ok to start programming after ones teens and still make a career of it. The basics of programming aren't that hard. It's the systems design aspect which takes a lifetime.
2. Internal motivation for the subject is the key. People are pretty good learners for most of their life.
"Money grab"... Most professional careers demand quite many hours put into it. Some programmers treat their career as a profession, others as just a job. Since there are no authorative qualification bodies on the matter (like for doctors) that's just how the dynamics of personal lives and human nature run.
That said, I don't really see the point in chasing after new technolgies - I have quite a large enough learning load in trying to gain deep understanding of my domain (graphics/computational geometry).