I'm 57 and still programming for a living. Currently I'm involved with a startup building an iOS app, and am building am Apple Watch app on the site. I've been programmimg for 41 years, starting in high school with FORTRAN IV and IBM mainframes, then PDP-11 minicomputers in BASIC and assembly, then the Apple II and 6502 assembly. And then all the other hot technologies of the decades - Windows 3.1/C, Mac/C, .Net, C#, ActionScript/Flash, Java, and now Objective-C and Swift. Did some short stints with COBOL and RPG-II, Lisp, Prolog, and even Forth.
I had no problems securing the position I have now, and last year, while looking for full-time work, recruiters who were less than half my age were interviewing me, and i did get to some initial phone interviews. I didn't see any evidence of ageism - not from recruiters and not from companies interested in speaking initially on the phone with me.
I think what really helps is to be current in the technologies, be a self-starting continuous learner, never being afraid to try something new and different, and demonstrating exactly how you can add value to any employer or client who's interested in you. Knowing more than tech is hugely important: You have to have outstanding social and emotional skills as well.
I intend to program until my last day on this planet. Can't think of a better vocation and avocation - to start with a blank IDE screen and, after a few weeks or months, have an application working for a client or fielded in the market.
So, don't despair, focus on all the other experiences you've accumulated, and demonstrate - don't just tell about - your abilities and how hiring you would add value to any organization.
Yep, I got a Bachelor's in Physics, minoring in Computer Science, and did independent study in computational physics, so lots of numerical-analysis type of study. Career paths - without a PhD - were limited, so I got into programming, but the foundation I got made it easy to do a wide range of other things. I got involved in Instructional Systems Design (designing and building training material founded on data-based, empirically validated principles) which Physics helped a lot with. I was also an Industry Analyst during the dot-com boom days, and again being able to think abstractly, looking for patterns, and being able to conduct quantitative market research was all facilitated greatly by a solid foundation in math and physics.
Elon Musk (a Physics student) has a great quote about Physics, where he talks about reasoning from first principles and "try to identify the most fundamental truths in any particular arena and you reason up from there." I agree - you get that foundation and way of thinking, and it can help you in all kinds of work.
If you're good at abstract thinking - a skill seemingly rare among the younger members of society these days - you can do pretty much anything. So it's much less about what you CAN do and much more about what you WANT to do, so focus on that, knowing you have a solid foundation to support you.
Hunter,
Thank you for a most thoughtful reply. We are actually current Heroku customers, and my issue (a simple one to solve) is that our new app has the same name as our old app (which is running on Heroku now), so i wanted a different hoster - not only just to try other providers, but also to make management at our end a bit easier. As i say, an easy problem to fix. I am tempted to return to Heroku because integrating with MongoLab was just so easy and painless, and your deployment steps are so clear and easy.
It's a great idea to try other providers - I run stuff on Linode and Digital Ocean myself (though I stick with Heroku for the vast majority). Let me know if there's anything I can help with re:deployment or support of node apps on our platform.
Yep, DO is a contender. I like the "hands-on" aspect of their interface - a lot of control, but a little squirrely on the interface. Still, they're growing fast and clearly appeal to a lot of devs.
Ionic is OK but has its limitations. Its CSS components are not all that pretty, compared to those from, sat, SemanticUI or other CSS frameworks. And it's not easy at all to integrate other CSS frameworks. Also, current Ionic does not support Angular 1.3, although its next beta release will, but not clear when it'll be released. You lose a lot of functionality by not having Angular 1.3.
I'd seriously look at two relatively new frameworks: AppGyver, which looks fantastic - so much so that I may switch tools/frameworks on a start-up product. Or, Telerik's NativeScript looks really promising, but it won't be ready for production use until 05/15.
Take a hard look at frameworks before committing to one - esp. Ionic. It looked really good, which is why I, as lead dev in a consumer-oriented startup, chose it for our hybrid app. But, after several months of working with it, its warts become evident.
For real-time aspects, have a look at PubNub: lots of features, very low latency, many global data centers, SDKs for every language/platform, good docs and support. You can easily replace FireBase with PubNub (I did on a project and results were positive). Really depends on what real-time needs you have (simple data synching or more complex persistence requirements).
Yeah, me too. Have been for many years. And I lived/worked in India building education products. Feel free to contact me as well: me (at) lewhollerbach.com.
You might want to check out a "one-member LLC". Some/most U.S. states should have a provision for this type of corporate structure.
It's an LLC (limited liability corporation), so you get most of the benefits of a corporate shell around you. LLCs are also taxed as partnerships, not corporations, so the tax structure - and amount of tax paid - is simpler and less is usually paid.
The twist on a "single-member" LLC is that if your LLC consists of only one person - you - then you're taxed not as a partnership but as a Sole Proprietor.
So you get the best of both worlds: You get a real, legitimate corporation, with the attendant liability protections. And you're taxed as a sole proprietor, meaning you just complete a Schedule C in your Form 1040 returns.
LLCs are also usually cheap to set up and manage. In Massachusetts (where I have my LLC), it's an excise tax of $500 annually. Reporting and bookkeeping requirements are minimal - not much more than for any sole proprietor. So it's a really good way to go.
Keep in mind that once you add someone as a member of your LLC (a partner, effectively), this advantage disappears, and you'll have to file a 1065 Partnership Return, and calculate the % distribution to the partners. So your accounting bill will go up, for sure, at that point.
Also be very clear on exactly what "limited liability" really means. Read up on what protections you get and don't get. Just because it says "LLC" in your corporate name doesn't mean you can get away with anything and everything. Some protections are excluded. One is obviously any kind of fiduciary malfeasance. So, just be clear on what liabilities are limited by this structure.
Else, do check out the tax implications where you live for a single-member LLC; you might find an ideal solution here.
I had no problems securing the position I have now, and last year, while looking for full-time work, recruiters who were less than half my age were interviewing me, and i did get to some initial phone interviews. I didn't see any evidence of ageism - not from recruiters and not from companies interested in speaking initially on the phone with me.
I think what really helps is to be current in the technologies, be a self-starting continuous learner, never being afraid to try something new and different, and demonstrating exactly how you can add value to any employer or client who's interested in you. Knowing more than tech is hugely important: You have to have outstanding social and emotional skills as well.
I intend to program until my last day on this planet. Can't think of a better vocation and avocation - to start with a blank IDE screen and, after a few weeks or months, have an application working for a client or fielded in the market.
So, don't despair, focus on all the other experiences you've accumulated, and demonstrate - don't just tell about - your abilities and how hiring you would add value to any organization.