> As an avid anti-ageist, in fact I'm rather disappointed about that last point. I've met many programmers at around or above my age that have gotten completely stuck into a tiny niche of experience and, even there, seem to not really have progressed much in terms of depth.
I'm the same age as you and consider this a narrow characterisation of an older programmer.
I know there are better younger programmers than me. I know that I've got suck with the same experience over and over, because as I got more senior, that's what people wanted from me.
I also know that the breadth of other skills I bring is significantly more than a young programmer. I've had to master how to deal with management, seen projects fail for many different reasons, mentored juniors, pulled together international teams of programmers (with varying success - motivating certain nationalities is a skill I've yet to gain), architected projects, held the peace between junior programmers who saw everything in black and white, and continued to write code that was distinctly less buggy than others.
I am a programmer. One who needs to take a sabbatical and learn some new programming languages, but at heart I am someone who makes stuff happen by writing software. I like working with younger and older programmers (the oldest is in his early 60s); both keep me sharp and challenge my outlook.
But if you look at my resume, sure I've gotten completely stuck and haven't progressed in terms of depth.
I'm the same age as you and consider this a narrow characterisation of an older programmer.
I know there are better younger programmers than me. I know that I've got suck with the same experience over and over, because as I got more senior, that's what people wanted from me.
I also know that the breadth of other skills I bring is significantly more than a young programmer. I've had to master how to deal with management, seen projects fail for many different reasons, mentored juniors, pulled together international teams of programmers (with varying success - motivating certain nationalities is a skill I've yet to gain), architected projects, held the peace between junior programmers who saw everything in black and white, and continued to write code that was distinctly less buggy than others.
I am a programmer. One who needs to take a sabbatical and learn some new programming languages, but at heart I am someone who makes stuff happen by writing software. I like working with younger and older programmers (the oldest is in his early 60s); both keep me sharp and challenge my outlook.
But if you look at my resume, sure I've gotten completely stuck and haven't progressed in terms of depth.