Developer's Age !
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
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Well, I'm 66, and yes, once programming gets into your blood, it stays there. BUT, age is definitely not only a state of mind. My body says otherwise! The nice thing is, though, when I'm immersed in a programming challenge, the aches and pains seem to disappear. Also, after 20 or so years in the programming chair, you've pretty much made all the mistakes that can be made, so I find that my coding doesn't need a lot of tuning. Cheers, Phil
Ven. Phil
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Dear I think the programming is very exhausting process, so I think the max age I can do this job is 35 after that I think team leading and project management will be more suitable for me. At last I would thank you for posting this interesting issue that I was in needs to here other voices about it. thank you Ahmed A. Korany
The DevMan wrote:
I think the programming is very exhausting process, so I think the max age I can do this job is 35 after that I think team leading and project management will be more suitable for me.
If you think that a team lead or project management role is going to be less stressful or tiring, think again. :doh:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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Well, I'm 66, and yes, once programming gets into your blood, it stays there. BUT, age is definitely not only a state of mind. My body says otherwise! The nice thing is, though, when I'm immersed in a programming challenge, the aches and pains seem to disappear. Also, after 20 or so years in the programming chair, you've pretty much made all the mistakes that can be made, so I find that my coding doesn't need a lot of tuning. Cheers, Phil
Ven. Phil
Phil,
Ven. Phil wrote:
BUT, age is definitely not only a state of mind. My body says otherwise!
Yes I agree, I remodel homes by day and I have pains I didn't know I had muscles for.
Ven. Phil wrote:
Also, after 20 or so years in the programming chair, you've pretty much made all the mistakes that can be made, so I find that my coding doesn't need a lot of tuning.
Yeh, I just have a problem deciding on a design and then sticking with it. Mike
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. "George Carlin"
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It's not the age of the developer that matters, it is the enthusiasm level that counts. Question is not how old are you, it is how enthusiastic you are! Problem : as you get older, keeping your enthusiasm up is more challenging. But it brings in mind an old joke: There is an old bull and a young bull in the top paddock. The farmer accidentally leaves the gate open between the bulls and the cows paddock. The young bull sees this and gets very excited. He hops around and says to the old bull 'Let's run down there and have ourselves a cow!'. The old bull finishes munching his grass, looks up and says 'No, lets walk down there and have the lot!' Age and experience will win over youth and exuberance any day :-)
Bruce Chapman iFinity.com.au - Websites and Software Development Plithy remark available in Beta 2
Bruce Yes experience is a valuable tool and yes it is harder to keep enthusiasm level up but when you do some awesome things can be done! I've heard the joke before but still a good one! Mike
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. "George Carlin"
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
Well, at 53, I may not be "old" by your standard for this question, but I certainly have opinions. I've been programming for 37 years. During that time I have been "Just Another Programmer", a consultant, a technical manager, a partner in a 100+ person consulting firm, a co-founder of a software/hardware dev firm, a VP of engineering in another 100+ person company. I keep coming back to programming. My wife doesn't quite get that I have no interest in becoming a manager at my current company. "Wouldn't you make more money?" Sure, and I could make more money as a CPA, or a surgeon, but I wouldn't have the same challenge that comes from finding an elusive multi-threading race condition that causes a weirded out system crash once every 3-5 weeks. I see myself as a programmer until retirement. My ambition will continue to drive me to greater degrees of technical depth and breadth, but it will never let me stray too far from the programming challenges that still float my boat. Later... Tim
-------------------------------------------------- Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. -- George Carlin
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
As a doddering old fool of 60 and a programmer/developer/analyst for 40 of those years, I can't imagine being satisfied with any other type of work. I once took a job as director of development.. I still shudder to think of it. Do not let anyone talk you into a promotion to a non programming job unless your only in it for the money. I also cannot imagine retiring until they pry the keyboard from my cold dead fingers. I currently use net 3.0 and am learning Ruby on rails.
David Lane One World One People.
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As a doddering old fool of 60 and a programmer/developer/analyst for 40 of those years, I can't imagine being satisfied with any other type of work. I once took a job as director of development.. I still shudder to think of it. Do not let anyone talk you into a promotion to a non programming job unless your only in it for the money. I also cannot imagine retiring until they pry the keyboard from my cold dead fingers. I currently use net 3.0 and am learning Ruby on rails.
David Lane One World One People.
This is the real passion for development, and it's great you use .net 3.0, I hope I will stay working as a programmer till I reach this age!
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
Just about to hit my big 40 :sigh: Started coding professionally after leaving college and, with a short few years outside the trade, have never stopped. I've had jobs where the coding is the primary task and others where it's just a bit of scripting for a one-off task. I still get a buzz out of learning a new way of getting the code to do what I want and I get a great deal of satisfaction out of completed project, either a small application for myself at home or a larger job for work. My Mrs has asked me several times why I haven't gone for management positions. I know that the job satisfaction just will not be there.
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Well, at 53, I may not be "old" by your standard for this question, but I certainly have opinions. I've been programming for 37 years. During that time I have been "Just Another Programmer", a consultant, a technical manager, a partner in a 100+ person consulting firm, a co-founder of a software/hardware dev firm, a VP of engineering in another 100+ person company. I keep coming back to programming. My wife doesn't quite get that I have no interest in becoming a manager at my current company. "Wouldn't you make more money?" Sure, and I could make more money as a CPA, or a surgeon, but I wouldn't have the same challenge that comes from finding an elusive multi-threading race condition that causes a weirded out system crash once every 3-5 weeks. I see myself as a programmer until retirement. My ambition will continue to drive me to greater degrees of technical depth and breadth, but it will never let me stray too far from the programming challenges that still float my boat. Later... Tim
-------------------------------------------------- Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. -- George Carlin
Very nice , this give me a hope to continue my programming life :) Ahmed A> Korany
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Well, at 53, I may not be "old" by your standard for this question, but I certainly have opinions. I've been programming for 37 years. During that time I have been "Just Another Programmer", a consultant, a technical manager, a partner in a 100+ person consulting firm, a co-founder of a software/hardware dev firm, a VP of engineering in another 100+ person company. I keep coming back to programming. My wife doesn't quite get that I have no interest in becoming a manager at my current company. "Wouldn't you make more money?" Sure, and I could make more money as a CPA, or a surgeon, but I wouldn't have the same challenge that comes from finding an elusive multi-threading race condition that causes a weirded out system crash once every 3-5 weeks. I see myself as a programmer until retirement. My ambition will continue to drive me to greater degrees of technical depth and breadth, but it will never let me stray too far from the programming challenges that still float my boat. Later... Tim
-------------------------------------------------- Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. -- George Carlin
I'm really amazed Tim, I thought programming is a young people's job, and after getting somehow old the one starts to stop being a coder, looking for some specialty by adopting one product and being a consultant, but BTW, most of developers I worked with, are not willing to complete their lives as developers, I think also you still code because you have passion to code, it's in your gens as I commented before, programming is a hobby before it's a profession, I guess this is the reason!
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
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Bruce Yes experience is a valuable tool and yes it is harder to keep enthusiasm level up but when you do some awesome things can be done! I've heard the joke before but still a good one! Mike
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. "George Carlin"
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
Fellas, I think 20 years ago, development and software as an industry was not as mature as it's now, so I believe that we're a new generation for software development, development can be a lifetime job, because IT is booming, it's the new cutting edge technology, we're in the information era, so we as Developers are valuable and very important to this era, any comments !!
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
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Well, I'm 66, and yes, once programming gets into your blood, it stays there. BUT, age is definitely not only a state of mind. My body says otherwise! The nice thing is, though, when I'm immersed in a programming challenge, the aches and pains seem to disappear. Also, after 20 or so years in the programming chair, you've pretty much made all the mistakes that can be made, so I find that my coding doesn't need a lot of tuning. Cheers, Phil
Ven. Phil
That's really interesting, Thanks for your post, I hope that programming takes all my pains away :), when I get to such an age.
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
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I don't think age is a real issue. Once programming is in your blood you will do for your entire life, whether as a career or hobby!
Kareem Shaker wrote:
and if you are somehow old, let's say 35,
Age is just a state of mind! Mike @ 58
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. "George Carlin"
I wish I could say that age wasn't an issue. I am only 37 and have been in 2 different jobs as a professional developer that I was considered, and even called once, the "OLD GUY". At one miserable position in Charlotte, NC, I was actually older than my team lead, the group Manager, AND even the Sr. Manager. I caught alot of flack because I was older. The average age there was only 24 or so. The manager, who taught himself VB.NET (poorly might I add) was only 26 and an arrogant little pr!ck. Needless to say, I didn't stay there long! Now, please excuse me while I go take my geritol and my early-mid-morning nap. :laugh:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
I've been programming for a living since 1974 (Yes, punched cards & Fortran) on all kinds of equipment from TRS-80 to CRAY & NEC supercomputers. When I retired in 1995, I continued to program on PC's. I like to think I'm current; I use C# and C++, XP and Linux. I'm now 64 :zzz: but hey! I'm reading this stuff!
73
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I've been programming for a living since 1974 (Yes, punched cards & Fortran) on all kinds of equipment from TRS-80 to CRAY & NEC supercomputers. When I retired in 1995, I continued to program on PC's. I like to think I'm current; I use C# and C++, XP and Linux. I'm now 64 :zzz: but hey! I'm reading this stuff!
73
One Day we'll find people saying " I have worked on Windows Vista, and also I used .NET framework ", I salute buddy, programming is a hobby more than being a profession!:laugh:
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
I don't think age matters. I'm a couple of weeks away from being 48 and I'm still a developer. I haven't sold my soul to the company so I can't be management. One thing I've noticed is that the young developers know a wide range of knowlege and have lots of (what they think) are new ideas. They seem to think if they haven't thought of it before, then it's a new idea when some of us have already tried things...in assembly language. The older developers have experiance in the real world. Together, young and older, can make a dynamite team as long as we listen to each other. Have a great day Joe Q
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Hello, Just wanted to know if there are people out there willing to complete their lives in programming, in other words, how do you plan your career vs. your age, I have seen developers aged at 40s and 50s, do you think that the one should quit development at a certain age and shift to technical consultations or project management, and if you are old, and still into code, does this make you small or big ( I think it varies from one country to another ) ? Please share your experience here !
Kareem Shaker http://cairocafe.blogspot.com
I'm 36 and making dev. I've even started a business for it recently. A friend of mine is 60+, but still writing code for both profession and for hobby. Of course, if you want to make some progress in your career and get paid more, you'll propably have to quit coding and become a project manager or some kind of tech. manager to draw the big lines. But as long as you can still learn to use the newest technology and tricks, there is no reason to give up coding. :)
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It's not the age of the developer that matters, it is the enthusiasm level that counts. Question is not how old are you, it is how enthusiastic you are! Problem : as you get older, keeping your enthusiasm up is more challenging. But it brings in mind an old joke: There is an old bull and a young bull in the top paddock. The farmer accidentally leaves the gate open between the bulls and the cows paddock. The young bull sees this and gets very excited. He hops around and says to the old bull 'Let's run down there and have ourselves a cow!'. The old bull finishes munching his grass, looks up and says 'No, lets walk down there and have the lot!' Age and experience will win over youth and exuberance any day :-)
Bruce Chapman iFinity.com.au - Websites and Software Development Plithy remark available in Beta 2
I will be 61 in a few days and have gone a complete cycle. I programmed, was technical lead, systems advisor, project manager, consultant, teacher and am a Systems Engineer/Architect that programs. The whole time I programmed to one degree or another. Experience both in programming and life is a good thing. Keeping a good attitude becomes a life outlook. It is your choice. :)
Len