Can you be too old to start learning to be a decent programmer?

Question

I can't find it now, but I found a question here the other day showing the distribution of ages when you all started programming. As I remember, the main range was 8 to 20, with 13 or 14 being about average.

I'm 24, and I've just started (well, 4 months ago) learning C++ as my first language. I feel like I've found my vocation - I've been enjoying it ever since I started, finding new challenges every day.

I don't know what field I want to go into when I go professional, I first though game dev but thinking maybe not now. At the moment I work in the publishing industry.

My worry is that it seems everybody here (virtually) grew up with programming. I grew up with Dos and Windows, but no programming at all. Will I ever catch up with all you guys and gals who started at an early age?

Answer 1

24 seems a little too early to start worrying about learning impairment.

Anyway it's true that with old age comes some kind of difficulty in apprehending new stuff.

I would not blame it on diminishing brain capabilities as much on changes in lifestyle and the film of habits growing thicker. Learning implies a bit of effort, much enthusiasm, and a proper environment. And these don't get any worse with age.

Answer 2

No.

It's never too old to start learning new skills basically.

Answer 3

My thought on this is that it is all about drive. If you are putting the effort in to learn about just as much as someone who is younger I don't believe it matters. I'd venture to say as some get older they reach a point where they feel comfortable and 'stuck' in their ways. So by being older and keeping in touch with the latest language introductions or methods or whatever you will be fine. The key is maintaining your drive.

Answer 4

24? You're way young. I thought you were going to be like, 50 or something. If you feel like you've found your vocation, you've found you're vocation. Be thankful and take it to the stars.

Answer 5

You're never to old to learn! Just be prepared to read a lot and listen to the advice that others give you..

I've worked with people who didn't pick up any form of programming until they went to University and their course required them to learn/write code. This would put them roughtly in the 18-22 age group, which isn't much different to you.

As long as you've got a passion for it you'll do just fine. Good luck!!!

Answer 6

Yes, you can still learn to program! What matters is how much passion and motivation you have to achieve this goal, not your age.

Answer 7

You success depends on how long ago you started and how fast you improve. You can't control the past, but you can control the learning process now. Try hard and you can become a competent software developer.

See this nice article for details.

Answer 8

There is no age for learning, its about passion.

So, if you think you do have the passion go ahead. In some time you should be able to find weather, the mind set with which you started was a passion or just-a-flick.

Will you be able to catch?: We are not competing against each other, as implied by SO reputations or Skeet's account. :). Everyone's competition is with knowledge and 100%. So, even if you don't get smarter then may folks around, and still suffice your thirst for knowledge, you are right there.

Answer 9

Not everyone started at an early age. I think the distribution you here is of people on stackoverflow, which may be different then the community at large. There are many programmers out there who dont use this site and have never heard of it.

I like to think that all the good ones have =) Anyway, i started programming in college, because, i was there to learn to program. I like to think i have been successful at it. I dont think 24 is too late to start.

Answer 10

No, I don't think it's ever too late, especially if it's something you have a passion for. In any event it's a continuous learning experience with new technologies, so even those that have started very young have a lot to learn. As long as you commit to that mindset that there are always new things to learn and improve upon you will be OK.

Answer 11

You're not playing a catch-up game with the others. Programming is not martial arts or other sports activities. It is all in the mind.

Desire is the key. Why do you want this? Ponder this every day for the rest of your life.

The Samurai Coder, Hideo.

Answer 12

It seems like a large number of programmers I've come across started out their careers as something other than a programmer (electrical engineer, chemist, etc). They had no problem picking up programming at much later ages.

Answer 13

"I feel like I've found my vocation - I've been enjoying it ever since I started, finding new challenges every day."

You're okay, don't worry about the age you're starting, its about the connection with the computer, getting it to do things. You'll be lacking some one the early computer system experience (but most people under 30 are) like programming on 8-bit computers and the Amiga, but that's what emulators are for (WinAPE comes with an in-line assembler for Z80 for the Amstrad CPC machines, I really must spend some time recreating the stuff I did as a teenager there).

Answer 14

Yes, you can be too old. If you're lying in your hospital deathbed after a long and fruitful life, and your lungs are failing from too much smoking, your liver has packed it in due to all the alcohol, and your drug-addled brain doesn't know what day of the week it is, then you probably shouldn't think about starting to learn at that point.

But if that's not the case then, by all means, start. The brain may degrade over time but probably not to the point where you couldn't learn to whack out a bit of VBA code or some Python to do something interesting :-)

And 24 year olds shouldn't be too worried about starting late. It's not like a tennis career where you'll never get anywhere because your parents didn't have you on the court at the age of two.

You'll be fine. Worst case, you discover it's not your bag, then you find something else to do. If you have the passion you seem to, you'll easily push aside half the brain-dead zombies I occasionally have to deal with.

Answer 15

I doubt you can be too old to start to become a decent programmer, and especially not at 24.

I also doubt you cannot catch up with programmers that started programming at an earlier age: Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister studied the influence of different factors on programmer productivity, and there was no correlation between professional experience and productivity with the exception of programmers with less then 6 months experience with the programming language they used. (Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, Dorset House, 1987, chapter 8)

This, of course, is a statistical analysis and I presume there is a large range of variation among programmers with the same professional experience.