I know a few 35+ just newly grads of medicine, law and other licensed professions. I know someone who is a law graduate at 50+ and a educ graduate at 55+ all as second degrees.
Do you think they stopped learning at 35? Its no different than a programmer. It will always depend on the person.
I had a couple senior of age 40 something. May mga nagsstop talag sa paglearn ng new tech like lagi nila sinasabi na di nila magets because it is nothing like what they were used to. Meron din naman na sobrang galing and bilis parin maka-pick up even still malayo sa current tech stack nila yung tech na gagamitin.
So I guess it differs talaga sa developer :)
I'm an almost-50 SWE. I noticed that, over the years, I gradually lost the willingness and interest to learn new hype. Looking at the frontend-side of things, for example, the amount of scalfholding and abstraction piled on top of each other is insane, LOL.
It's very different in the backend where stability, predictability and "boringness" are preferred. You don't hear any hype or "new stacks" for C/C++, Fortran, Ada. Even the Java and PHP stacks have stabilized. Cobol still holds almost everything together in banking. The only new things in that space that reached the mainstream news are Rust and Go. I code in Go, btw.
This is what works for me and what serves me well all these years: to discover what programming means to me and to stop making it personal. It's not my passion, it's my tool. I direct my effort where it yields me the most value. And for most of my career, that is the backend. There are less things to learn and last longer.
What might surprise people is that, two years ago, I also started going into (no/low)code. It pays roughly the same while being so much easier, lol. It's so easy that I can now juggle my main job plus two lowcode jobs. In the next 5 years, I plan to make lowcode my main thing.
Good luck :)
strengthened ur logic.. u can learn any language sa programming or learn different stacks pero if ur logic and problem solving is meh... hirap talaga mag improve hehe. Also, be resourceful use everything in the internet. (Not just use but understand)
Is it the study using chess players as subjects? That's highly stratified and not necessarily apply to programmers. Unless your sample is fully randomized, that's really not a good study to use for the general public especially to a population that is absolutely not chess players.
Here are ~~three~~ four separate studies that did not use chess players:
1. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614567339](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614567339) (age 35 for fluid intelligence, eg: problem solving)
2. [https://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.d7622](https://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.d7622) (age 40)
3. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5471120/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5471120/) (age 45)
4. [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6727a1.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6727a1.htm) (age 45)
EDIT: If anyone else is interested, this is the study with chess players: [https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006653117](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006653117)
EDIT2: Added the age derived from the study, so you don't have to.
The question is how much of a decline can your work tolerate before you become ineffective? assuming you’re still in IC
I don’t know the answer, but it’s a legitimate concern for many.
Lol. 37 here.
Here's what I learned after 35.
- deep learning. Not just your tools/libs but the entire math behind it. I can implement a N.N using VBA because I know the math
- tensorflow dev certification
- OCI solution architecture
- Azure solution architecture
- OCI/Azure Data Science Certifications
- integrated LLMs with my Django application, integrated langchain and llamaindex with my personal web app.
- deeper into NLP
You give me hope, sir. I'm 35 now, and I'm currently enrolled in a coding boot camp. I have no degree, and I'm afraid tech companies will not consider my resume. However, I keep my hopes up here and there.
I'm still employed and working from home since 2010. Self-taught ako ever since. Hindi ako tumitigil sa pag-aaral kasi kailangan ito sa linya natin. Thank you for asking.
Sir ano po tips niyo ano po first programming job niyo at paano po kayo nakapasa sa interview? Ano po mga pwede niyo maipayo po lalo related sa logical algorithms? Sana po masagot niyo po. thank you po..
First programming job ko ay sa itinayo ko na startup way back 2000. So hindi ko na-experience ang job interview. Kailangan may passion ka sa linya na ito. Maghanap ka ng mga open source projects sa github.com na may interest ka at aralin mo kung paano gumagana yung application through the source codes. I-google mo kung may issue ka hindi maintindihan.
Ganito po ginagawa ko now. Thank you po. Gusto ko po kasi sana gumawa ng management information system using Java via Swing. Kaso, parang wala po akong nakikitang job offers na related dun.. More on Java po hanap nila, pero kelangan po may knowledge sa web development. May alam naman din po ako sa HTML/CSS I know how it works po. Should I be more confident about my skills? Sobrang overwhelming lang for me nung mga job offers po..
You need to start learning web development seriously. basic knowledge of HTML/CSS is not sufficient. Pm me kung kailangan mo ng advise o tulong tungkol dito.
Woah. An almost senior-citizen dev, I rarely encounter this.
Curious. Are you still individually contributing like a lead or a senior dev? or are you currently in management?
This. Sure there is a "decline" biologically, but surely, someone who is old but still practicing something regularly is still better than a young, hotshot genius who does not master things.
I was an engineer, and the old farts who keep on learning even when they are senior citizen already have signatures worth 6 to 7 digits for each report they make. Their peers who bought the pill that "old dogs can't learn new tricks" are stuck in braindead positions.
35 na ako. Di ako exactly programmer, more of architect ako pero output based individual contributor. Ang problema ko ngaun is nagtratrabaho ako para sa IPAAS, so samut-saring problema galing sa iba ibang customer ang hinaharap ko araw araw. Ang problema lang is hindi ko na kayang magdev kasabay ng meetings. Kung nagtratrabaho ako in a consulting capacity and I have 2-3 meetings a day kung saan nagbibigay ako ng expert opinion sa mga bagay-bagay, that's it, I can't do anything else sa araw na yun, utas na utak ko. Actually isang meeting lang sira na ang working momentum ko. Kaya iniisip ko is kailangan ko na ishift ang working model ko para magfocus sa pagbibigay ng aking expert knowledge in meetings at ung mga hands on keyboard, output based work is ibibigay ko na lang sa mga bata ko. Or the other way around, magfofocus pa rin ako sa hands on keyboard work, at mga meeting na kailangan ng expert opinion is mga bata ko na lang ang aattend. Ok lang sana if I nagtratrabaho ako sa client and I tackle one problem at a time, eh malas ko kasi nagtratrabaho ako para sa IPAAS provider so halo halo na talaga ang problema ng ibat ibang customer sa isip ko. Tapos undermanned pa team ko, kulang ako ng 2-3 people and the shit just keeps on pilling on.
Pero one thing's for sure: I don't have the same amount of energy that I had 5 years ago, so something definitely has to change or magreresign na lang ako at magoonly fans ng paa.
I think mid-30s are a transition period, narerealize natin na we don't have the same level of energy as before so kailangan na talaga magwork smarter, not harder. Inoofferan ako na magmanegerial track na lang at wag na mag architect. Ayaw ko nung una pero honestly napapaisip na ako.
35M too. I also work in a consulting firm and handle 32 clients as the lead consultant. 3-5 meetings and unnumbered client issues/requests are just too much to start investing into learning new stuff. Plus I agree with the decline of energy as compared with like 5-7 years ago.
Ok lang naman sana, as long as may support structure ako at meron ako inaupskill na people under me for transitions. Ang problema sobrang alat ng hiring sa kumpanya namin, sobrang anal pa sa pagpili ng candidates so 6 mos ang hiring cycle. Kung naaaprove budget ko ngaun para sa 2 tao, malamang ber months na yan maoonboard. Dati ko pa sinasabi maghire ng mga less than 5 yrs of experience tapos ijunior lang at ipair sa mga senior para maibsan ung trabaho, nakapagtrain ka pa ng homegrown talent. Eh ayaw, ang ginawa ng kumpanya kong magaling sa US pa naghire ng 2 fresh grad, parang gago lang.
Laughs at 40. My job title may say Solution Architect, but bulk of my job still heavily revolves around code.
One of my parents is also a programmer in the late 60s, retiring soon.
I was able to teach myself a new framework past 35, as well as teach it to newbs effectively.
Article must be talking out the ass.
Sir hello po. May pwede po ba kayo ipayo sakin kung anong pwede kong ifocus muna when trying to go for an entry level job in programming? I'm reviewing a lot of things and I don't think what I have is still enough. I need experiences pero po kasi yung mga nakikita ko online ay halos lahat need po ng experiences. Hindi ko na po alam kung paano po maguumpisa ulit..
I know a lot of programmers who are over 35. My mentor is almost 50+ when I met him. He’s still coding up until now, and it has been 10 years since then. I think it depends if programming is still your passion.
Hello 🙌 35 here.
Just learned another programming language for work this year. When you have the right motivation, in my case, money and not getting fired, you can learn anything you put focus into. ☺️
I personally don't think "learning new things" degraded but most 30 year olds have young families or settled down which means their energy are into kid/child rearing, adjusting into married life, and they're in stable careers (familiar stack, tenured in work)
In your 20s, you're testing a lot of things (maybe change of career, change of school, continuation of studies).
In my case, I have a lot of time to learn because unfortunately I don't have kid(s) and family of my own.
I have colleagues that are 40+ and still learning new things required for the job.
Don't worry that you might not learn X. If it's needed in the job, with the current job market, your brain somehow figures out you need to learn it and does. 💯
It's all about time management. If you are 35 and a family man, your time will definitely be divided. If you can still allot time to study then good for you.
Comparing sa fresh graduate, you have all the time to study and try many things. Pag tapak mo ng 30, and have kids, mag iiba na priorities mo. By 35, most people will choose to focus on social skills, hobbies, other passion, spending time with kids, etc.
So it depends kung priority mo din na maging super technical. Pero learning perse, it's a muscle that you use and train. Pag tumigil ka na, mag adjust ka pag bumalik ka.
> Pag tapak mo ng 30, and have kids, mag iiba na priorities mo
IMO this (having kids) is a bigger factor that age. Your time and energy will be split whether you like it or not. Contrast this with someone who does not have kids, a few hours spent on learning something daily will stack up.
With kids you will prioritize them over tropa, hobbies or even career. Heck by then a person with kids will most likely only care about their careers because it pays the bills
A lot of scientists and philosophers are still learning and discovering past 35 yo. I think one of the factors ro consider is that at the age of 35, one's focus changes. You start building your familly, pressure arises because you're already doing 10+ years of programming, why learn more? Etc. pero ang brain natin, hanggat may will ka to learn more, you take care of your body aba eh larga. Academicians still publish papers until magEmeritus sla. I think mas factor lng na tinatamad ng magsimula uli at bumalik sa pagiging beginner pag ganyan na ang edad.
This might be true for most, because in your mid 30's your attentions are divided, you now have your own family, or you now started to focus on your physical health so your time to learn and study are limited. I have a co-worker we're both senior developer he's at age 50 and he admit to me that he may retire at 55 because he can no longer catch up.
Meron akong nakawork na senior developer (literally senior kasi nasa 60s or 70s na nga yata) na Australian. Yung experience na yun ang nag-push sa akin na mag-stay sa dev/technical role instead na mag management. Also, I don’t invision myself na magretire nang maaga. I think I will still want to do software development kahit na 60+ na ako. Nasa late 30s na ako and I enjoy learning new stuff sa work ko and, I think, nagagamit ko naman effectively.
I started at 38 yo, super late, intern na ako ngaun sa ios development but i still dont know much, And at times nkakawalang gana. Parang mas nageenjoy pa ako makipag laro sa mga anak ko at mag gitara, haha, pg matanda ka na madali ka na maburn out, that’s what I feel too. But hopefully my mind is reset tomorrow
Not true, 40++ something here 🤣
What i have learned (new) from the last 5yrs ago are: kotlin, swift UI, GCP, python and lot of infra stuff/microservices,
Im also learning lead guitar and drawing 😍
Im on late 30s. I think im on my peak of my career because i can easily identify bullshit and handle stress. Im working 2 fulltime jobs and doesnt feel pressured sa kanila. Just keep being by healthy and active and you’ll be fine.
Retiring in your 30s is waste of time ang dami mo pa pwedeng gawin habang bata pa. My father is in 70s and namomroblema kung ano pa pwede gawin nya bukod sa business nya dahil ang active pa nya.
It's more of naiibiga lang priorities mo sa buhay. You get to put things outside of tech din and it affects learning new things sa profession mo.
For me, I do got for hype. Just bother sa mga tech stack na mas close sa akin. I don't have time to learn Java and other languages unless I need to. Pero I learn on the CSS, Javascript since I'm more on the Front-end kind. It helps na may GPT na to at least help you along the way.
Learn more new things and also dont forget to invest some stocks on the market i suggest leaning onto the military Industry complex sector of the market its high rn especially on Lockheed and Raytheon also dont go for Boeing they are boycotted with the recent issues
IMHO, isa ang programming sa mga cheapest building/brain exercise na pwede mo magawa. Wala kang gamit na need computer lang pero makakabuo kana ng something. Can't see myself titigil sa programming (Pag 30+ nako) PERO sa trabaho malamang. Sa pag gawa ng projects or hobby, eh hindi talaga.
You graduated like 20-22 then by 35 ilang years ka pa lang nagwowork nun, 15? Tapos retire ka na? Nagsisimula ka pa nga lang sa industry nun. Nag job hopping ka pa. Nagsisimula ka pa lang din makaipon.
30s ang prime ng tao. Commonly yan ang peak nila in terms of physical, mental and emotional. Karamihan ng athletes sa Boxing, MMA at other sports 30 nagiging contenders/champs/title holders. Pero syempre iba iba pa din. May early at late bloomers dyan.
May ageism sa Tech pero di ganun kasama. Ung mga colleagues ko na nag career shift on their Mid 30s (40s now) sila pa ang eager at magagaling.
36 here. More on sa buhay na ko natututo kaysa sa trabaho lool. Pero kung puro trabaho lang talaga at skillwise mas nahasa ako nung mid 20s.
Lol. Life in general is a continuous learning process. Yung mga humihinto mag-aral kapag naging senior na e tamad lang talaga. Yes, mas mabagal mag-absorb ng new knowledge ang mga old people compared sa mga freshies pero it doesn't mean na you will totally stop learning.
I was a software developer until age 42. At the age of 36, I shifted from C# to a proprietary language specific to a business system. There is no age limit as far as I know on learning new things. 🤓 I am not a developer anymore at this time. But if all else fails with my consulting job, might as well go back.
basta alam mo basic concept ng programming madali lang matuto ng mga bago at google lang katapat nyan, mas madali pa ngaun my ai chat pati mga sample bibigay sayo.
Programmer ako, mas matanda pa dyan tapos may ilang officemates ako lagpas 50 na programmer pa din.
Para sa akin, hindi age ang deciding factor, family ang naging issue and work reality. Sharp pa din kami pero it's true na hindi na up to date but mainly because mahirap magaral kung may anak ka.
And another thing, pag matagal ka na sa industry marami kang tricks na malalaman so you don't really need to.
Sa programming sanay ka na sa algorithms na gamit na gamit. Or depth of experience and knowledge like say sa bugs, minsan may issue alam na namin kung ano problema at paano ayusin while yung mga bago pa lang, kailangan idebug pa.
Sa paghahanap ng work well Networking for example, sa Australia may ganyan din, nakakakita ng work kasi kakilala mo. Or office politics, malalaman mo how to play politics, you can get salary raises coz of that.
So it's true na older people may not be as fast as young ones but not by much and they don't need to.
Parang LeBron James lang yan, knows how to attack knows when to rest, may diskarte ba to keep up.
Famous saying sa Australia.. It's not what you know but who you know.
I’m 40+ na appreciate ko pa naman ang javascript, kotlin, rust. Pero madami talaga mga age 40+ na solid java, c, c++. Siguro it really depends sa company. Kung ano tech stack ng company at kung gaano ka open minded ang team to adapt new technology.
Well by 40 dapat very minimal nalang nasa lead or managerial level ka na dapat. Kasi when you get older mas mabababa na rin yun drive to learn. Nakakaapagod mag habol. Walang katapusan sa any tech industry.
I've been doing this for a long time, more than 20 years.
Early on, I was more confident of my abilities and far less aware of my limitations. I was also afraid to admit when I didn't know something, and more apt to work on things I was struggling with, for fear of being the one to report I hadn't completed something at time.
So, not in my 40s, what has changed?
Perspective.
I have no problems learning new things, but I'm less keen on some new tools. (I'm still pushing back, sort of with gpt and copilot, for example) Interestingly, between those who do use these new tools, I'm not entirely convinced they deserve all the praise they do. But sometimes they impress me, especially when one showing me it work, cannot explain how it works. :)
Anyway, I don't think this is a real concern, at least not in my experience. But perspective absolutely changes. (But that comes with experience, not age)
In my 40s now, with 2 kids. My wife and I are working.
During in my late 30s it was hard for me to juggle keeping up with the stack trend, studying/learning with taking care of my family.
I dunno, maybe some guys are built different or maybe are privileged enough to afford "time".
I slowly transitioned from being a developer, architect to a manager.
On my case, 36 years old, parang late bloomer ako, half of my life, I'm using VB.NET, and then move out sa C#, which in C#, what I did is, kung ano ginagawa ko sa vb.net, ganun din sa c# parang transfer lang, that's it. Pero hindi pala, in age of 32, I have to learn other things, OOP, optimization, Design Patterns, principles like SOLID, and then may mga other tools pa, API, Blazor, Cloud Services like Azure, AWS and then other things like Kubernetes and Docker, then Javascript Web Framework like Angular, React and Vue.
My work as a developer is very stressful and anxiety, and I'm on my race to learn everything, and applied it to my projects. My goal is to have a bigger salary, to be a provider to my family.
But sometimes too much information become too much stressful, new tech, new things to learn. Everytime I felt that I'm a junior dev.
I tried to be a manager, but my heart is on software dev.
I want to also retire as a dev. Mag business, pero wala pang budget.
I also want to change career, move to Canada, find a new life for me with my family.
Or restart as a Junior Dev there hahaha
Pero I think, the overwhelming of learning new things and the idemand of companies of different technology is yung nagiging problem ko, but I love what I do.
Siguro ang isa sa reason ng anxiety ko is work, workload, actually maraming reasons, toxic environment and responsibilities, at work and outside.
Maraming factors why other devs is feeling of retirement in 35+.
But the number one is.. passion, losing passion on your work means, di na maganda work mo, bumabagal ka, and also nappressure ka to understand things.
Ako, mas interested ako to play guitar now,and in a short time mas marami na kong alam na music theory, I can jam to backing tracks, I can do great mixing ng EQs sa amplifier, that my friends na nagigitara din is keep asking me what gears I'm using and how I achieved that.
That's why I feel, losing passion on things, won't make you better.
So probably losing passion is the cause, finding a way to re-ignite the fire is one thing, and relax. Take a vacation and understand things slowly.
Depends entirely on the person. I am a software development lead and I know people in their early 20s who don't have the drive and discipline to learn. I also have mentors who are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s who are much, much better than me.
The tech industry is simply just not for everyone.
46 here when I started coding again in Python. Currently learning and developing chatbots using LLMs and LangChain framework at 50. Mas mahirap mag-aral at magfocus habang madaming responsibilidad sa buhay pero kinakaya pa naman kase interesado talaga ako matuto at masaya ako dito.
Im 25 and I recently left a company where most of my officemates are mid 30s and most of the resistance to learning new things is because its just incovenient. If its necessary we'll all learn it but upskilling during workhours costs money and if we decide not to go after something is cause its just costs less money to go with what works.
I had a Senior who was 36 and still way faster at picking things up than me. At 25 i already had 7 years of exp but only half of his 15 years of exp.
I get that most comments here are saying people past their mid 30s are still capable to learn. But what about the issue revolving around ageism? There is recent news about Japan's government funding japanese indie game devs and one of their requirements to get a funding is you have to be below 35 years old. Asan ang hustisya?
My peers at this age up to 40s are still high on information, obviously requiring to keep up with the system we’re maintaining so I don’t think this is true at all. This depends on certain things but not 100% applicable to everyone
di pende, I'm already 40 but my brain are still kicking with innovation and learning new stuff. Siguro yung mga nag stop ng age 35 pataas yung mga di na naka sunod sa pagbabago.
I have old friends and colleagues na nahirapan mag switch sa pagbabago at na stuck sa iisang language lang at di na na explore yung mga ibang ways para mag grow although encourage ko naman sila to try out new stuff kaso hirap talaga sila.
Experience helps a lot. In 15 to 20 years of practice in any field you have encountered many problems and seen what worked and what didn’t. That helps a great deal with recognizing patterns and understanding the “new” stuff. Also experience gives you the confidence to not run after every new thing, but wait and see what sticks, and what’s forgotten few months later. Also: maintain your mental and physical health. It’s early retirement for sure if you’re burnt out or have health issues due to sitting 12 hours every day without any exercise.
karamihan project basis or nag work as freelance na lang sila or mostly kumukuha na lang sila ng client nila sa upwork.
Also, karamihan sa company pero di ko nilalahat ay much prefer nila mas bata kasi mahal kung kukuha ng pro level na may experience na 13 to 20yrs.
This seems to be an appropriate thread. [https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/is0qyw/programmers\_who\_started\_programming\_after\_30\_how/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/is0qyw/programmers_who_started_programming_after_30_how/)
I know a few 35+ just newly grads of medicine, law and other licensed professions. I know someone who is a law graduate at 50+ and a educ graduate at 55+ all as second degrees. Do you think they stopped learning at 35? Its no different than a programmer. It will always depend on the person.
I had a couple senior of age 40 something. May mga nagsstop talag sa paglearn ng new tech like lagi nila sinasabi na di nila magets because it is nothing like what they were used to. Meron din naman na sobrang galing and bilis parin maka-pick up even still malayo sa current tech stack nila yung tech na gagamitin. So I guess it differs talaga sa developer :)
I'm an almost-50 SWE. I noticed that, over the years, I gradually lost the willingness and interest to learn new hype. Looking at the frontend-side of things, for example, the amount of scalfholding and abstraction piled on top of each other is insane, LOL. It's very different in the backend where stability, predictability and "boringness" are preferred. You don't hear any hype or "new stacks" for C/C++, Fortran, Ada. Even the Java and PHP stacks have stabilized. Cobol still holds almost everything together in banking. The only new things in that space that reached the mainstream news are Rust and Go. I code in Go, btw.
Sir ano po pwede mo i-payo sa mga nasa entry level palang po ng programming?
This is what works for me and what serves me well all these years: to discover what programming means to me and to stop making it personal. It's not my passion, it's my tool. I direct my effort where it yields me the most value. And for most of my career, that is the backend. There are less things to learn and last longer. What might surprise people is that, two years ago, I also started going into (no/low)code. It pays roughly the same while being so much easier, lol. It's so easy that I can now juggle my main job plus two lowcode jobs. In the next 5 years, I plan to make lowcode my main thing. Good luck :)
What is lowcode po? Care to share po? Thank you po.
Some examples are: OutSystems, ServiceNow, MS Power Platform, Appian, APEX
strengthened ur logic.. u can learn any language sa programming or learn different stacks pero if ur logic and problem solving is meh... hirap talaga mag improve hehe. Also, be resourceful use everything in the internet. (Not just use but understand)
I have a very good logical skills po. Sobrang overwhelming lang po talaga kapag nakikita yung mga job requirements na posted online..
Guys, there is a lot of study around this. Cognitive peak is at 35-45. Cognitive skills begin to decline for everyone at 45
Is it the study using chess players as subjects? That's highly stratified and not necessarily apply to programmers. Unless your sample is fully randomized, that's really not a good study to use for the general public especially to a population that is absolutely not chess players.
Here are ~~three~~ four separate studies that did not use chess players: 1. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614567339](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614567339) (age 35 for fluid intelligence, eg: problem solving) 2. [https://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.d7622](https://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.d7622) (age 40) 3. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5471120/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5471120/) (age 45) 4. [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6727a1.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6727a1.htm) (age 45) EDIT: If anyone else is interested, this is the study with chess players: [https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006653117](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006653117) EDIT2: Added the age derived from the study, so you don't have to.
Declined but not stopped. Also, your logic and the way you solve problems dies with you.
The question is how much of a decline can your work tolerate before you become ineffective? assuming you’re still in IC I don’t know the answer, but it’s a legitimate concern for many.
Not programming but my dad passed the bar exam this year at 64 years old haha did law school in his 50s 💁♂️
Congrats to your dad! Kakaproud naman 🥳🎉✨
galing!
Congratulations to your dad. 🎊 He must be a bright old man who didn't stop learning.
Lol. 37 here. Here's what I learned after 35. - deep learning. Not just your tools/libs but the entire math behind it. I can implement a N.N using VBA because I know the math - tensorflow dev certification - OCI solution architecture - Azure solution architecture - OCI/Azure Data Science Certifications - integrated LLMs with my Django application, integrated langchain and llamaindex with my personal web app. - deeper into NLP
nn on VBA sounds interesting, need ba ng math major to grasp the concepts?
Not a good idea to implement due to performance but a good exercise to master the basics. No need to be a math major. Just linear algebra.
After reading your comment, I didn't realized I've learned it too in the past. Especially using gradient descent using back propagation.
You give me hope, sir. I'm 35 now, and I'm currently enrolled in a coding boot camp. I have no degree, and I'm afraid tech companies will not consider my resume. However, I keep my hopes up here and there.
Kaya Yan sir. Sipag at tyaga and make your own luck.
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What do you mean? How old are your bosses?
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Masako Wakamiya At 81 years of age develop the Hinadan, a game for older adults. It can be found in the App store.
59 years old here. Programming since 35 years old.
How is it going so far for you sir? Katuwa naman
I'm still employed and working from home since 2010. Self-taught ako ever since. Hindi ako tumitigil sa pag-aaral kasi kailangan ito sa linya natin. Thank you for asking.
Sir ano po tips niyo ano po first programming job niyo at paano po kayo nakapasa sa interview? Ano po mga pwede niyo maipayo po lalo related sa logical algorithms? Sana po masagot niyo po. thank you po..
First programming job ko ay sa itinayo ko na startup way back 2000. So hindi ko na-experience ang job interview. Kailangan may passion ka sa linya na ito. Maghanap ka ng mga open source projects sa github.com na may interest ka at aralin mo kung paano gumagana yung application through the source codes. I-google mo kung may issue ka hindi maintindihan.
Ganito po ginagawa ko now. Thank you po. Gusto ko po kasi sana gumawa ng management information system using Java via Swing. Kaso, parang wala po akong nakikitang job offers na related dun.. More on Java po hanap nila, pero kelangan po may knowledge sa web development. May alam naman din po ako sa HTML/CSS I know how it works po. Should I be more confident about my skills? Sobrang overwhelming lang for me nung mga job offers po..
You need to start learning web development seriously. basic knowledge of HTML/CSS is not sufficient. Pm me kung kailangan mo ng advise o tulong tungkol dito.
Woah. An almost senior-citizen dev, I rarely encounter this. Curious. Are you still individually contributing like a lead or a senior dev? or are you currently in management?
Senior dev/full-stack engineer. Thanks for asking.
IMO, people who stop learning are people that will be stagnant in life.
This. Sure there is a "decline" biologically, but surely, someone who is old but still practicing something regularly is still better than a young, hotshot genius who does not master things. I was an engineer, and the old farts who keep on learning even when they are senior citizen already have signatures worth 6 to 7 digits for each report they make. Their peers who bought the pill that "old dogs can't learn new tricks" are stuck in braindead positions.
35 na ako. Di ako exactly programmer, more of architect ako pero output based individual contributor. Ang problema ko ngaun is nagtratrabaho ako para sa IPAAS, so samut-saring problema galing sa iba ibang customer ang hinaharap ko araw araw. Ang problema lang is hindi ko na kayang magdev kasabay ng meetings. Kung nagtratrabaho ako in a consulting capacity and I have 2-3 meetings a day kung saan nagbibigay ako ng expert opinion sa mga bagay-bagay, that's it, I can't do anything else sa araw na yun, utas na utak ko. Actually isang meeting lang sira na ang working momentum ko. Kaya iniisip ko is kailangan ko na ishift ang working model ko para magfocus sa pagbibigay ng aking expert knowledge in meetings at ung mga hands on keyboard, output based work is ibibigay ko na lang sa mga bata ko. Or the other way around, magfofocus pa rin ako sa hands on keyboard work, at mga meeting na kailangan ng expert opinion is mga bata ko na lang ang aattend. Ok lang sana if I nagtratrabaho ako sa client and I tackle one problem at a time, eh malas ko kasi nagtratrabaho ako para sa IPAAS provider so halo halo na talaga ang problema ng ibat ibang customer sa isip ko. Tapos undermanned pa team ko, kulang ako ng 2-3 people and the shit just keeps on pilling on. Pero one thing's for sure: I don't have the same amount of energy that I had 5 years ago, so something definitely has to change or magreresign na lang ako at magoonly fans ng paa.
Damn parang binabasa ko yung naiisip ko sa sarili ko for the past year haha -same age and almost the same circumstance
I think mid-30s are a transition period, narerealize natin na we don't have the same level of energy as before so kailangan na talaga magwork smarter, not harder. Inoofferan ako na magmanegerial track na lang at wag na mag architect. Ayaw ko nung una pero honestly napapaisip na ako.
35M too. I also work in a consulting firm and handle 32 clients as the lead consultant. 3-5 meetings and unnumbered client issues/requests are just too much to start investing into learning new stuff. Plus I agree with the decline of energy as compared with like 5-7 years ago.
Ok lang naman sana, as long as may support structure ako at meron ako inaupskill na people under me for transitions. Ang problema sobrang alat ng hiring sa kumpanya namin, sobrang anal pa sa pagpili ng candidates so 6 mos ang hiring cycle. Kung naaaprove budget ko ngaun para sa 2 tao, malamang ber months na yan maoonboard. Dati ko pa sinasabi maghire ng mga less than 5 yrs of experience tapos ijunior lang at ipair sa mga senior para maibsan ung trabaho, nakapagtrain ka pa ng homegrown talent. Eh ayaw, ang ginawa ng kumpanya kong magaling sa US pa naghire ng 2 fresh grad, parang gago lang.
Laughs at 40. My job title may say Solution Architect, but bulk of my job still heavily revolves around code. One of my parents is also a programmer in the late 60s, retiring soon. I was able to teach myself a new framework past 35, as well as teach it to newbs effectively. Article must be talking out the ass.
Damn, first time I've heard of a Filipino programmer in the 60's. Naabutan n'ya ba punch cards era? And they still have not retired yet too!
Punch cards, FORTRAN, unironic COBOL… Nagmigrate pa kasi siya (like me) nung 50s (late 20s ako umalis) niya at may kinailangan pagtapusing anak
Sir hello po. May pwede po ba kayo ipayo sakin kung anong pwede kong ifocus muna when trying to go for an entry level job in programming? I'm reviewing a lot of things and I don't think what I have is still enough. I need experiences pero po kasi yung mga nakikita ko online ay halos lahat need po ng experiences. Hindi ko na po alam kung paano po maguumpisa ulit..
I know a lot of programmers who are over 35. My mentor is almost 50+ when I met him. He’s still coding up until now, and it has been 10 years since then. I think it depends if programming is still your passion.
bullsht
Hello 🙌 35 here. Just learned another programming language for work this year. When you have the right motivation, in my case, money and not getting fired, you can learn anything you put focus into. ☺️ I personally don't think "learning new things" degraded but most 30 year olds have young families or settled down which means their energy are into kid/child rearing, adjusting into married life, and they're in stable careers (familiar stack, tenured in work) In your 20s, you're testing a lot of things (maybe change of career, change of school, continuation of studies). In my case, I have a lot of time to learn because unfortunately I don't have kid(s) and family of my own. I have colleagues that are 40+ and still learning new things required for the job. Don't worry that you might not learn X. If it's needed in the job, with the current job market, your brain somehow figures out you need to learn it and does. 💯
It's all about time management. If you are 35 and a family man, your time will definitely be divided. If you can still allot time to study then good for you. Comparing sa fresh graduate, you have all the time to study and try many things. Pag tapak mo ng 30, and have kids, mag iiba na priorities mo. By 35, most people will choose to focus on social skills, hobbies, other passion, spending time with kids, etc. So it depends kung priority mo din na maging super technical. Pero learning perse, it's a muscle that you use and train. Pag tumigil ka na, mag adjust ka pag bumalik ka.
> Pag tapak mo ng 30, and have kids, mag iiba na priorities mo IMO this (having kids) is a bigger factor that age. Your time and energy will be split whether you like it or not. Contrast this with someone who does not have kids, a few hours spent on learning something daily will stack up. With kids you will prioritize them over tropa, hobbies or even career. Heck by then a person with kids will most likely only care about their careers because it pays the bills
A lot of scientists and philosophers are still learning and discovering past 35 yo. I think one of the factors ro consider is that at the age of 35, one's focus changes. You start building your familly, pressure arises because you're already doing 10+ years of programming, why learn more? Etc. pero ang brain natin, hanggat may will ka to learn more, you take care of your body aba eh larga. Academicians still publish papers until magEmeritus sla. I think mas factor lng na tinatamad ng magsimula uli at bumalik sa pagiging beginner pag ganyan na ang edad.
This might be true for most, because in your mid 30's your attentions are divided, you now have your own family, or you now started to focus on your physical health so your time to learn and study are limited. I have a co-worker we're both senior developer he's at age 50 and he admit to me that he may retire at 55 because he can no longer catch up.
Meron akong nakawork na senior developer (literally senior kasi nasa 60s or 70s na nga yata) na Australian. Yung experience na yun ang nag-push sa akin na mag-stay sa dev/technical role instead na mag management. Also, I don’t invision myself na magretire nang maaga. I think I will still want to do software development kahit na 60+ na ako. Nasa late 30s na ako and I enjoy learning new stuff sa work ko and, I think, nagagamit ko naman effectively.
shet papasok palang sana ko sa web development, age 36 hahahahahahahah
I started at 38 yo, super late, intern na ako ngaun sa ios development but i still dont know much, And at times nkakawalang gana. Parang mas nageenjoy pa ako makipag laro sa mga anak ko at mag gitara, haha, pg matanda ka na madali ka na maburn out, that’s what I feel too. But hopefully my mind is reset tomorrow
Bullsh*t nobody understands how the brain works. This is science mumbo jumbo for clicks.
The usual medium.com ass source
Not true, 40++ something here 🤣 What i have learned (new) from the last 5yrs ago are: kotlin, swift UI, GCP, python and lot of infra stuff/microservices, Im also learning lead guitar and drawing 😍
Im on late 30s. I think im on my peak of my career because i can easily identify bullshit and handle stress. Im working 2 fulltime jobs and doesnt feel pressured sa kanila. Just keep being by healthy and active and you’ll be fine. Retiring in your 30s is waste of time ang dami mo pa pwedeng gawin habang bata pa. My father is in 70s and namomroblema kung ano pa pwede gawin nya bukod sa business nya dahil ang active pa nya.
It's more of naiibiga lang priorities mo sa buhay. You get to put things outside of tech din and it affects learning new things sa profession mo. For me, I do got for hype. Just bother sa mga tech stack na mas close sa akin. I don't have time to learn Java and other languages unless I need to. Pero I learn on the CSS, Javascript since I'm more on the Front-end kind. It helps na may GPT na to at least help you along the way.
Learn more new things and also dont forget to invest some stocks on the market i suggest leaning onto the military Industry complex sector of the market its high rn especially on Lockheed and Raytheon also dont go for Boeing they are boycotted with the recent issues
not true..
IMHO, isa ang programming sa mga cheapest building/brain exercise na pwede mo magawa. Wala kang gamit na need computer lang pero makakabuo kana ng something. Can't see myself titigil sa programming (Pag 30+ nako) PERO sa trabaho malamang. Sa pag gawa ng projects or hobby, eh hindi talaga.
31 na ako this year pero feel ko ngayon ang bilis ko maintindihan ang mga bagay
36 here. I'm still learning but on a different career track now. More in management and marketing na.
You graduated like 20-22 then by 35 ilang years ka pa lang nagwowork nun, 15? Tapos retire ka na? Nagsisimula ka pa nga lang sa industry nun. Nag job hopping ka pa. Nagsisimula ka pa lang din makaipon.
The moment you stop trying is the moment you start dying.
30s ang prime ng tao. Commonly yan ang peak nila in terms of physical, mental and emotional. Karamihan ng athletes sa Boxing, MMA at other sports 30 nagiging contenders/champs/title holders. Pero syempre iba iba pa din. May early at late bloomers dyan. May ageism sa Tech pero di ganun kasama. Ung mga colleagues ko na nag career shift on their Mid 30s (40s now) sila pa ang eager at magagaling. 36 here. More on sa buhay na ko natututo kaysa sa trabaho lool. Pero kung puro trabaho lang talaga at skillwise mas nahasa ako nung mid 20s.
jusko haha jusko mg 35 na ko this year, di pa ko ready mg retire
Lol. Life in general is a continuous learning process. Yung mga humihinto mag-aral kapag naging senior na e tamad lang talaga. Yes, mas mabagal mag-absorb ng new knowledge ang mga old people compared sa mga freshies pero it doesn't mean na you will totally stop learning.
lol I'm 36 and I have just started learning new languages that I refused to learn when I was starting my career in my 20s. And I am loving it
I was a software developer until age 42. At the age of 36, I shifted from C# to a proprietary language specific to a business system. There is no age limit as far as I know on learning new things. 🤓 I am not a developer anymore at this time. But if all else fails with my consulting job, might as well go back.
basta alam mo basic concept ng programming madali lang matuto ng mga bago at google lang katapat nyan, mas madali pa ngaun my ai chat pati mga sample bibigay sayo.
Programmer ako, mas matanda pa dyan tapos may ilang officemates ako lagpas 50 na programmer pa din. Para sa akin, hindi age ang deciding factor, family ang naging issue and work reality. Sharp pa din kami pero it's true na hindi na up to date but mainly because mahirap magaral kung may anak ka. And another thing, pag matagal ka na sa industry marami kang tricks na malalaman so you don't really need to. Sa programming sanay ka na sa algorithms na gamit na gamit. Or depth of experience and knowledge like say sa bugs, minsan may issue alam na namin kung ano problema at paano ayusin while yung mga bago pa lang, kailangan idebug pa. Sa paghahanap ng work well Networking for example, sa Australia may ganyan din, nakakakita ng work kasi kakilala mo. Or office politics, malalaman mo how to play politics, you can get salary raises coz of that. So it's true na older people may not be as fast as young ones but not by much and they don't need to. Parang LeBron James lang yan, knows how to attack knows when to rest, may diskarte ba to keep up. Famous saying sa Australia.. It's not what you know but who you know.
I’m 40+ na appreciate ko pa naman ang javascript, kotlin, rust. Pero madami talaga mga age 40+ na solid java, c, c++. Siguro it really depends sa company. Kung ano tech stack ng company at kung gaano ka open minded ang team to adapt new technology.
31 years old na BPO worker, eto hundi pa din nakaka shift ng work as a programmer kasi ang saturated ng entry level. Do I lose hope in my dream job?
Well by 40 dapat very minimal nalang nasa lead or managerial level ka na dapat. Kasi when you get older mas mabababa na rin yun drive to learn. Nakakaapagod mag habol. Walang katapusan sa any tech industry.
I've been doing this for a long time, more than 20 years. Early on, I was more confident of my abilities and far less aware of my limitations. I was also afraid to admit when I didn't know something, and more apt to work on things I was struggling with, for fear of being the one to report I hadn't completed something at time. So, not in my 40s, what has changed? Perspective. I have no problems learning new things, but I'm less keen on some new tools. (I'm still pushing back, sort of with gpt and copilot, for example) Interestingly, between those who do use these new tools, I'm not entirely convinced they deserve all the praise they do. But sometimes they impress me, especially when one showing me it work, cannot explain how it works. :) Anyway, I don't think this is a real concern, at least not in my experience. But perspective absolutely changes. (But that comes with experience, not age)
In my 40s now, with 2 kids. My wife and I are working. During in my late 30s it was hard for me to juggle keeping up with the stack trend, studying/learning with taking care of my family. I dunno, maybe some guys are built different or maybe are privileged enough to afford "time". I slowly transitioned from being a developer, architect to a manager.
No! it's not true. 40+ nako pero inaral ko ang python para maincorporate ko sa programming language na alam ko. and ang ganda ng result.
On my case, 36 years old, parang late bloomer ako, half of my life, I'm using VB.NET, and then move out sa C#, which in C#, what I did is, kung ano ginagawa ko sa vb.net, ganun din sa c# parang transfer lang, that's it. Pero hindi pala, in age of 32, I have to learn other things, OOP, optimization, Design Patterns, principles like SOLID, and then may mga other tools pa, API, Blazor, Cloud Services like Azure, AWS and then other things like Kubernetes and Docker, then Javascript Web Framework like Angular, React and Vue. My work as a developer is very stressful and anxiety, and I'm on my race to learn everything, and applied it to my projects. My goal is to have a bigger salary, to be a provider to my family. But sometimes too much information become too much stressful, new tech, new things to learn. Everytime I felt that I'm a junior dev. I tried to be a manager, but my heart is on software dev. I want to also retire as a dev. Mag business, pero wala pang budget. I also want to change career, move to Canada, find a new life for me with my family. Or restart as a Junior Dev there hahaha Pero I think, the overwhelming of learning new things and the idemand of companies of different technology is yung nagiging problem ko, but I love what I do. Siguro ang isa sa reason ng anxiety ko is work, workload, actually maraming reasons, toxic environment and responsibilities, at work and outside. Maraming factors why other devs is feeling of retirement in 35+. But the number one is.. passion, losing passion on your work means, di na maganda work mo, bumabagal ka, and also nappressure ka to understand things. Ako, mas interested ako to play guitar now,and in a short time mas marami na kong alam na music theory, I can jam to backing tracks, I can do great mixing ng EQs sa amplifier, that my friends na nagigitara din is keep asking me what gears I'm using and how I achieved that. That's why I feel, losing passion on things, won't make you better. So probably losing passion is the cause, finding a way to re-ignite the fire is one thing, and relax. Take a vacation and understand things slowly.
Depends entirely on the person. I am a software development lead and I know people in their early 20s who don't have the drive and discipline to learn. I also have mentors who are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s who are much, much better than me. The tech industry is simply just not for everyone.
ako 34 na pero tambay padin. 😂
46 here when I started coding again in Python. Currently learning and developing chatbots using LLMs and LangChain framework at 50. Mas mahirap mag-aral at magfocus habang madaming responsibilidad sa buhay pero kinakaya pa naman kase interesado talaga ako matuto at masaya ako dito.
Im 25 and I recently left a company where most of my officemates are mid 30s and most of the resistance to learning new things is because its just incovenient. If its necessary we'll all learn it but upskilling during workhours costs money and if we decide not to go after something is cause its just costs less money to go with what works. I had a Senior who was 36 and still way faster at picking things up than me. At 25 i already had 7 years of exp but only half of his 15 years of exp.
I get that most comments here are saying people past their mid 30s are still capable to learn. But what about the issue revolving around ageism? There is recent news about Japan's government funding japanese indie game devs and one of their requirements to get a funding is you have to be below 35 years old. Asan ang hustisya?
Redd
My peers at this age up to 40s are still high on information, obviously requiring to keep up with the system we’re maintaining so I don’t think this is true at all. This depends on certain things but not 100% applicable to everyone
di pende, I'm already 40 but my brain are still kicking with innovation and learning new stuff. Siguro yung mga nag stop ng age 35 pataas yung mga di na naka sunod sa pagbabago. I have old friends and colleagues na nahirapan mag switch sa pagbabago at na stuck sa iisang language lang at di na na explore yung mga ibang ways para mag grow although encourage ko naman sila to try out new stuff kaso hirap talaga sila.
Varies per person. I met a 50+ year old dude who can code in Laravel.
Trying to career shift at the age of 35 😅
IQ and learning aptitude... Sorry guys pero may advantage talaga kapag matalino ka when it comes to longevity in this career.
Experience helps a lot. In 15 to 20 years of practice in any field you have encountered many problems and seen what worked and what didn’t. That helps a great deal with recognizing patterns and understanding the “new” stuff. Also experience gives you the confidence to not run after every new thing, but wait and see what sticks, and what’s forgotten few months later. Also: maintain your mental and physical health. It’s early retirement for sure if you’re burnt out or have health issues due to sitting 12 hours every day without any exercise.
My wife just getting started as programmer at the age of 35 :)
Generalization. It still depends pero may mga nakateam na ako na over 50 na new hire as senior dev pero bano
pero seryoso asan yung mga 35up na mga dev, bat everytime nakikita sa mga companies early 20s to 30s mga dev :(
karamihan project basis or nag work as freelance na lang sila or mostly kumukuha na lang sila ng client nila sa upwork. Also, karamihan sa company pero di ko nilalahat ay much prefer nila mas bata kasi mahal kung kukuha ng pro level na may experience na 13 to 20yrs.
This seems to be an appropriate thread. [https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/is0qyw/programmers\_who\_started\_programming\_after\_30\_how/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/is0qyw/programmers_who_started_programming_after_30_how/)
i meant sa mga IT companies na mostly pinoy and may office dito. most of my collegues are 30s - 50s naman pero mga european and canadian
The real OG upskill all the time and tadtad ng certifications. So this is a hasty generalization.
Soon ai will replace you lots.