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To me, age has no bearing on the ability to learn. Even the greatest programmer continues to learn. In 20 years time, the school children on here will be like 40, and if they are still programming, do you think they will be programming with what they are learning now? 20 years from now will probably hold completely different langauges or techniques which are implemented today. Thats the great thing about doing this type of work, one thing you can guarentee is that every day will be different. And another thing you can guarentee is that change is imminent, and its about changing with the times. Its all a constant process of learning when you enter the world of programming, which is what makes it so fun.
So, in summary, age does not define the ability to learn, but provides you with the experience in the way you learn (thats such a socrates moment!).
65 Replies - 23711 Views - Last Post: 26 November 2012 - 12:35 PM
#61
nick2price
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Re: Am I too old to start programming?
Posted 17 March 2012 - 12:18 AM
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#62
bean_grinder
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Re: Am I too old to start programming?
Posted 03 October 2012 - 09:04 AM
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Too old...
I just turned 40 and will graduate with my first undergrad in Mechatronics this fall. I'm required to take 2 semesters of C++, and honestly...it's freakin brutal. The math and engineering courses were a breeze compared to programming. When I graduated high school we were still using electronic typewriters (1990). I so don't fit in the State U I attend. Too old...who cares. I've got three kids I need to feed and a wife who is tired of "just getting by". I'm tired of it too. I've got two classes left to graduate with a degree in engineering...and one of them is the second C++ class...not bad considering neither of my parents even finished high school. Too old...nah. Tougher than the children in my class...yeah. Oh well. Get out there and do whatever it takes. If you don't you'll live with a stack of regrets and die unhappy.
Don't let your dreams be dreams.
I just turned 40 and will graduate with my first undergrad in Mechatronics this fall. I'm required to take 2 semesters of C++, and honestly...it's freakin brutal. The math and engineering courses were a breeze compared to programming. When I graduated high school we were still using electronic typewriters (1990). I so don't fit in the State U I attend. Too old...who cares. I've got three kids I need to feed and a wife who is tired of "just getting by". I'm tired of it too. I've got two classes left to graduate with a degree in engineering...and one of them is the second C++ class...not bad considering neither of my parents even finished high school. Too old...nah. Tougher than the children in my class...yeah. Oh well. Get out there and do whatever it takes. If you don't you'll live with a stack of regrets and die unhappy.
Don't let your dreams be dreams.
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#63
NecroWinter
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Re: Am I too old to start programming?
Posted 03 October 2012 - 06:56 PM
Youll never be too old
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#64
jon.kiparsky
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Re: Am I too old to start programming?
Posted 03 October 2012 - 07:15 PM
Whenever I hear someone talk about being "too old", I think of the person who taught me one of the most important lessons I've ever learned. I hardly knew him, but I owe him a lot.
His name was Les Squier, and he was a professor of pyschology at Reed College - emeritus when I was there. He must have been in his seventies at the time, and he was still actively involved in his research, although he was no longer teaching. I met him in a course I took in my first year there, an introduction to Hispanic literature course. He was one of the students. Over the course of a semester, sitting in a room with a newly-minted Spanish professor, maybe a dozen students my age, and this old guy, I realized that this was a man who was learning more than anyone in the room and adding more than anyone in the room to the conversation. It was partly to keep up with him that I took up translating the stories we were reading - just to try to get a better idea of what I thought of them. Translation is still one of my hobbies, years later.
It was only later on that it struck me that this was a man in the eighth decade of his life, and he was taking an introductory course in literature.
This goes beyond simple optimism - he knew well enough that he was closer to endings than to beginnings - but it reaches a much more important drive to continue to grow as long as we are alive. Several years later, he died, in his office, at his desk, researching human sexuality, still learning new things and bringing them to the world. And as far as I can see, he was alive, and growing, right up to the moment he died.
I don't see how you could ask for more than that.
His name was Les Squier, and he was a professor of pyschology at Reed College - emeritus when I was there. He must have been in his seventies at the time, and he was still actively involved in his research, although he was no longer teaching. I met him in a course I took in my first year there, an introduction to Hispanic literature course. He was one of the students. Over the course of a semester, sitting in a room with a newly-minted Spanish professor, maybe a dozen students my age, and this old guy, I realized that this was a man who was learning more than anyone in the room and adding more than anyone in the room to the conversation. It was partly to keep up with him that I took up translating the stories we were reading - just to try to get a better idea of what I thought of them. Translation is still one of my hobbies, years later.
It was only later on that it struck me that this was a man in the eighth decade of his life, and he was taking an introductory course in literature.
This goes beyond simple optimism - he knew well enough that he was closer to endings than to beginnings - but it reaches a much more important drive to continue to grow as long as we are alive. Several years later, he died, in his office, at his desk, researching human sexuality, still learning new things and bringing them to the world. And as far as I can see, he was alive, and growing, right up to the moment he died.
I don't see how you could ask for more than that.
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#66
derrellgore
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Re: Am I too old to start programming?
Posted 26 November 2012 - 12:35 PM
I just started programming as a job three years ago at the age of 45...after being as your said MCSE/CISCO for over 20 years. So you are not too old. What found in my area is the younger generation is that interested in programming. They grew up where all they had to do was pop a cd in and it worked. Back in the early 80's when I started all you could do was teach yourself programming. I self taught myself three years ago with a couple of books after not programming since pre-windows days. Got a job doing it almost immediately....haven't looked back since.
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