One of the joys of programming is that, with regular
exercise, it seems to get better and better. I look at problems today
and solve them in my head in minutes before touching a keyboard,
whereas I would have dived-in and spent weeks hacking as a kid.
Youth brings many advantages, along with sheer energy (the ability to
pull all-nighters) another is simply time. I won awards in a different
industry in my 20s simply because I was able to indulge a project for
weeks, without kids and other responsibilities.
Today I'd have the wisdom to;
1) Question the assumptions behind the "need"
2) Use something else I already made
3) Get someone else to do it
Like sports I think that maintaining "coding health" is a thing. We
get rusty if we don't hack from time to time. That said, I have a good
"baseline fitness" and pick-up a language I haven't coded in for 20
years with a few weeks of revision.
If anything a tragedy for older programmers is getting less and less
reason to use hard-won skills. I hope older programmers get more
recognition as an undervalued resource, as I still actually enjoy
writing code.
It could also be a young woman's game.
One of the joys of programming is that, with regular exercise, it seems to get better and better. I look at problems today and solve them in my head in minutes before touching a keyboard, whereas I would have dived-in and spent weeks hacking as a kid.
Youth brings many advantages, along with sheer energy (the ability to pull all-nighters) another is simply time. I won awards in a different industry in my 20s simply because I was able to indulge a project for weeks, without kids and other responsibilities.
Today I'd have the wisdom to;
1) Question the assumptions behind the "need"
2) Use something else I already made
3) Get someone else to do it
Like sports I think that maintaining "coding health" is a thing. We get rusty if we don't hack from time to time. That said, I have a good "baseline fitness" and pick-up a language I haven't coded in for 20 years with a few weeks of revision.
If anything a tragedy for older programmers is getting less and less reason to use hard-won skills. I hope older programmers get more recognition as an undervalued resource, as I still actually enjoy writing code.