Comment Old programmers go to work (Score 1) 799
I'm 48.
I've been writing code since I was 18. I started with a BASIC tutorial on an RSTS system, and learned FORTRAN in grad school. Now I'm a Java lead. I speak a half-dozen languages, but only Java in the last few years.
I have had roles as a senior developer (my productivity in that role is very high), designer, architect, business liason, and system engineer. My flexibility and my communication skills are the key to my longevity. Other developers I know who're my age serve the same roles for the same reasons. Of course, as you age, there are fewer and fewer techies in your age group, because the money and the authority go to managers (as, I believe, it should) -- and so that's what many young developers aspire to.
Right now, I'm running a development team, teaching younger developers to code for the maintainer. I'll probably be an architect in this organization, when I've learned enough about it to be effective at that job.
Pay, of course, has to be a minor consideration if you want to be an old techie. :) I make now what I made roughly 7 years ago. I've been in the same +/- $20k bracket for the past 6 years. I will probably retire at the top of that bracket -- but I'll be having a lot of fun building things and teaching younger developers at that rate!
I've been writing code since I was 18. I started with a BASIC tutorial on an RSTS system, and learned FORTRAN in grad school. Now I'm a Java lead. I speak a half-dozen languages, but only Java in the last few years.
I have had roles as a senior developer (my productivity in that role is very high), designer, architect, business liason, and system engineer. My flexibility and my communication skills are the key to my longevity. Other developers I know who're my age serve the same roles for the same reasons. Of course, as you age, there are fewer and fewer techies in your age group, because the money and the authority go to managers (as, I believe, it should) -- and so that's what many young developers aspire to.
Right now, I'm running a development team, teaching younger developers to code for the maintainer. I'll probably be an architect in this organization, when I've learned enough about it to be effective at that job.
Pay, of course, has to be a minor consideration if you want to be an old techie.
