Ask Slashdot: Am I Too Old To Learn New Programming Languages? 772
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the sorry-i-will-get-off-your-lawn dept.
from the sorry-i-will-get-off-your-lawn dept.
ProgramadorPerdido writes "I have been a developer for 25 years. I learned Basic, VB, C, FoxPro, Cobol, and Assembler, but the languages I used the most were Pascal and Delphi. I then concentrated on a now-non-mainstream language for 11 years, as it was used at work. One day I had the chance to move into Project Management and so I did for the last 2 years. Now, at almost 40 years old, I'm at a crossroad. On one side I realized developing is the thing I like best, while on the other side, the languages I'm most proficient with are not that hot on the market. So I came here looking for any advice on how to advance my career. Should I try to learn web development (html, xhtml, css, php, python, ruby)? Should I learn Java and/or C#? Or am I too old to learn and work a new language? Should I go back to PM work even if I do not like it that much? Any similar experiences?"
Too old (Score:2, Funny)
Yeah sorry, at 40 your brain basically fossilizes, and becomes a FIFO stack.
If you learn a new programming language, you WILL forget the old ones.
Re:Stay Put (Score:4, Funny)
Heh. Don't worry about me. I'm actually in O.K. shape, thanks to contributing to an (>>>ROTH) IRA when I could. The point here is, follow your bliss when you're young, then screw your ass down and prostitute yourself when your old because teh Conservatiods want to give all your tax dollar to Haliburton and all your social security to Wall Street (did you forget that little maneuver during the Bush Years) and you can go live under an expressway ramp when you're 70. Unless that virus that only kills liberals and people over 60 finally gets approved (KIDDING! KIDDING!).
Bitter? Me? Nah. I'm just a cranky old man...
Re:ASM (Score:1, Funny)
irregardless, I could care less.
feast on that for a while.
Re:Stay Put (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Too old (Score:3, Funny)
Don't laugh. Last week I started learning Ruby and I forgot how to chew.