Programming ability over age [modified]
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The book of Genesis (The Bible) says that people used to live for hundreds of years. The oldest guy to ever live was over 900 years old (Methuselah was his name). God decided that this was not good because man became increasingly smart over time and could do just about anything he wanted. Because of this he decided to shorten our life cycle to only 100 years. Check it out, it's interesting reading!
-------------------------------------------- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
Hardly a scientific basis for our understanding of learning though.
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Years back someone posted an article here (I can't find it now) which claimed that middle-aged programmers (40-68) are not expected to be as good as their non middle aged counter parts. Any link to original article will be appreciated? I did Google fir it but could not find that exact article. These days, I am reading this book: The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind[^]. This was one of the popular books on Brain - a topic of my interest. The books cites several research studies citing that some faculties of brain actually improve in the middle age. One such thing is problem solving - which is what programming all about. Things such as ability to recognize and make sense complex patterns also improves - which again a common thing in programming. Another faculty that is expected to grow is the ability to comprehend the whole (system architecture). So what it should imply is that programming as a skill should improve with age. . Is that what happens in the real world? In my case at least, though I have yet to hit middle age, I can see that I have improved in lot of areas but I do not know whether it is due to accumulation of learning over the years or due to development of brain.
modified on Thursday, June 10, 2010 3:02 PM
I've been programming for over 30 years, sd here is my 2 cents: The bottom line is that it depends on the programmer. There are not two of us alike. If they stay active in current technology, then the bredth of their experiences in different areas will make it easier to solve complex proplem, because they have learned to overcome similar issues in previous encounters. Thus, us old fogies make good software architects which is my current title. All to often, by the time we reach our 50's we have either burned out trying to keep up, or gone on to management. Managers don't have a prayer of staying current on the technology like someone that eats it for breakfast lunch and dinner, so they quickly fall behind the curve. New programmers bring a zeal for technology and the energy to work those 80 hour weeks. They soak up new information like a sponge and so are much more able to handle what ever come their way. While us older folks have learned first hand what kind of damage 80 hour weeks can do to your life in general and prefer positions that do have that requirement. If I had to do it all over again I would choose the slower career growth working only 40 hour weeks and enjoy my family more. I can get a new career, but family casn not be replaced.