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Can old people learn programming?

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Chichikov
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20 Oct 2016, 5:27 pm

underwater wrote:
1) Is it possible to learn IT stuff even if I'm rubbish at maths and fairly old?


RE learning new things, IT changes so rapidly that you're constantly learning new things. It's not like riding a bike where once you've learned it you know it. If you're not the type that is academic and good at learning new things then IT isn't for you. RE the maths, there are many many forms of programming that don't need any maths ability. There are fields where it is needed heavily but they are in the minority...your google search algorithms, database indexing algorithms, generating security encryption methods and so on.

underwater wrote:
2) Are there any particular fields in IT where getting a job is easy, due to people finding them boring for example?


Entry level jobs are the easiest to get and more often than not they will be "support" jobs, which is basically fixing bugs in existing software while more senior developers are busy writing new bugs into new software. It's a good way to learn the ropes and it's also a job that senior people tend to not want to do because it's boring. Alas it's a discipline that won't teach you the more advanced skills needed to write software from scratch. Think of a senior developer being like an architect, and someone on support being a handyman. The handyman can plug holes in walls, fix leaky taps and replace bulbs, but he isn't learning how to build a house from scratch.

underwater wrote:
3) Is there any IT field that can be done part time?

If you go freelance you have a better chance of doing things part-time (you also get to work from home usually where you can control your own environment)

As for the degree at your age, if you rocked up to a developer job with an unrelated degree at 39...mmm... In terms of employing people companies want, in order of preference;

1 - Lots of experience
2 - Experience
3 - A computer science related degree

If you can demonstrate one of those employers don't care about the tiers below. If you can show up with 20 years of programming experience and a good CV\resume they won't even ask you if you have a degree. If you have no experience then the related degree at least shows you have an aptitude for the work. If you have a non-related degree it shows nothing and you might as well be someone who randomly walked in off the street.

These are just my opinions and from the viewpoint of programming, the world of sys admin\network admin\hardware support etc might work differently.



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20 Oct 2016, 7:04 pm

Yes, you can learn programming at any age, and to be honest, math isn't important to programming unless you're programming something that involves math, physics, etc. That said, attention to detail and strong logic skills ARE necessary. Also, if you're working for a company as part of a team expect to be a robot-- a team is going to have a style guide and naming conventions that you must follow. If that doesn't make sense, let me put it this way: there are multiple ways to solve just about any problem, programming is no different, and if you're not solving it the way your team is then you're going to introduce bugs and make it harder for others to interface with your work. A degree is prefered in most situations but I know more than a few programmers that do not have a degree, and they're not genius C++ wizards either. I myself worked in a related industry (web design) for a while without a degree, all I needed was a small portfolio of demonstrated knowledge to get the job-- oddly enough the portfolio was Javascript apps, and not actually web design, lol. I digress, but yes it is possible to learn programming at any age if you have the proper mentality.

Edit: When a programmer's not a math wizard and he needs some algorithms, know what he does? Just like you and I, he asks Google and Google provides.



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20 Oct 2016, 7:58 pm

I hope so. I understood basic as a kid, to some extent, and I had an easy time in my introductory C++ class. If you can make a flow chart and learn some syntax, you can start coding.


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21 Oct 2016, 5:40 am

underwater wrote:
Hi guys, I have a slightly complicated question to ask. I'll try to be as brief as possible.

Background: Due to having no clue about neurodiversity, I made some really poor choices about what degree to pursue. I've spent a lot of time trying to learn maths and physics, and although I scrape by in calculus and statistics, I remember practically nothing of what I've spent years learning, and I've flunked physics more times than I'm happy to admit.

Fast forward to me being almost forty, unemployed and with unstable health. My biggest issues are executive functioning, office politics and sensitive eyes. Fortunately I've escaped sound sensitivity, which makes work easier.

In the past I've done very well in some nice, smallish workplaces. I found out I have an ability to edit text unusually quickly, due to very good reading ability and an eye for detail.

Now I am starting to see that having a degree would help me a lot in reentering work life. I have two options:

1) Spending a year and a half on completing a master's degree in a related subject to the one I was studying. This would give me a degree in a field where I don't want to work, but I figure just having a master's degree would be good. It would require spending a lot of time in an open plan office, though, which seriously impairs my ability to work.

2) Start something entirely new where there are better chances of actually being offered a position, even though it takes more time.

In the event of choosing option 2), I was thinking of learning programming or something IT-related. During my studies, I've been learning a lot of complex software, so I'm reasonably good with computers. At one point I actually took a basic IT subject that included some HTML and JavaScript (way back when). I gave up on IT at the time because I couldn't find a way to learn the basic stuff. So many of my fellow students had been into computers since they were teenagers, and the groaning from the back bench whenever I asked a question was pretty discouraging.

Nowadays, there are plenty of courses available online, and I can learn at my own pace before entering university. I've just started looking at Python, and I find it interesting, which is encouraging. Also, I learn most things quickly.

So I have three questions:

1) Is it possible to learn IT stuff even if I'm rubbish at maths and fairly old?

2) Are there any particular fields in IT where getting a job is easy, due to people finding them boring for example? I can do boring. I just don't want to be involved in huge development programs that eat my life, due to having limited energy and wonky executive functioning.

3) Is there any IT field that can be done part time?

Sorry for the long post, but if I didn't provide background, the questions wouldn't make sense.

Have a nice day, guys!


It is difficult, but possible. At the age of 78 I taught myself equilibrium thermodynamics.... which is harder than programming.


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21 Oct 2016, 8:09 am

Awww, thank you guys for all the helpful replies! I am going away for a couple of days without internet, but will make some proper replies when I come back.


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