Hi Ronnie: I'm also your age and just begun to understand coding after the third class. I did realize that I really did not appreciate my teacher. So, I changed teachers and went on on-line for the first time, wel-lay, I got it so good, I was sooooooo-----happy. So, I hope, I have some desperate students that are not getting it, be, patience, and maybe try another teacher, until you get it. This is not an easy course to learn. Everyone wants too, learn, because of the money. Remember, it is not for everyone, but if you can get it, Hey! Ronnie: and everyone else Good Luck! 😊😊😊😊👍👍
I highly recommend to start with Stef. I’ve been learning some more advanced stuff now, but every time I’m learning I stop and think, thanks to Stef’s foundational teachings I’m able to understand this now.
The psychological stuff is spot on. In my early 40s I started to learn web development. I taught myself html, css, js, then php and mysql, back to JS for some Node and the MERN stack. Always in my head I heard myself saying 'You're too old. No company is going to hire you over these young hipster dorks' and it made me chicken out. Now I'm 46 and working in a factory for 12 hours a day. I learned A LOT and basically let all that knowledge go to waste because of the psychological impediments you referred to. And its a drag because I love coding.
I'm 56 and I don't have any difficulty learning new things, it's exactly the same as when I was 25. I started programming Basic and Clipper, and today I program Swift and SwiftUI.
I find the older I get, the faster I learn. I think this is because there is an abstract level to information and skills that one becomes familiar with and can transfer to other endeavors. This is especially true, funny enough, if you learn one thing deeply enough. Learn math well, you can understand literature better. I believe this is called consilience. This explains why, despite popular misconceptions, older people are more creative and innovative than younger people.
Agree. We may learn slower, But we learn better, With more perspective, With a better deep understanding. And it's a bit more difficult, But as Stef says: People in this profession usually learn all the time.
Yes, I agree with you, older people gets to be more careful and patient with the process of learning and couple with experience of life they do far better because they feel they have limited time to achieve so much and have nothing to loose.
I am 42 and learned programming 4 years ago. Now I am building a Nodejs framework with Angular en GraphQL. Tip: practice a lot by doing a lot of personal projects.
Trust me. If your brain is getting more' spongable' your heading for the checkout. I think your referring to neuro-plasticity ;). BTW I'm 66 years old and I spend at least 5 hours a day coding. For me a perfect day is one in which a coding task stretches before me. It's when I'm happiest. I would go so far as to say that coding should be on prescription for older people. It's a fantastic way of maintaining ( and indeed improving) cognitive flexibility.
I have been learning c# for a while along with some commands lines, git, sql WebAPI etc. Hopefully going to start msc in computer science in September. I am 41 years old female. Every time I need a motivation I watch this video again and again. Thank you Stefan !!!
You have touched this subject before and it cannot be emphasized more. I am 57 doing graduate work in statistics and applying for a data science or statistics masters in the next month or so. It is a struggle to keep the faith I can do this but honestly I love it even though it is hard. At 20 I did not have the intellectual ability. The pandemic is a horror but for doing work with others at a high level (since I was not in person classes with my white hair) it is so ideal. No one really likes turning on their video feed in Zoom during class I found (even in Discord)., but tablets and sharing screens - no problem. Studying with others on Discord etc. was wonderful for me and I have never interacted with fellow students and professors this much before in my life. I am trying to prepare myself for the inevitable in person awkwardness that might result from me sitting around so many "young" folk. Ageism is very real but the more of us out there the better it can be. Python, R, SAS, machine learning - so interesting but not easy at all. Your advice and encouragement have made a difference. My goal is to be able to apply data analysis techniques to the avalanche of medical, social and epidemiological data being generated. "Rage, rage...."
Older I have find out that one using more time to learn because try to learn everything before do coding. When was young I did all kind of thing with small amount of knowledge, playing around with UI, database, connection, data structures etc.. -- but also systems was more simply in early days. Now there is so much to learn.
I'm 54 and have been taking a couple of courses including the StudioWeb course after hours due to working a demanding full time job as an Art Director. I recently enrolled in a part-time coding bootcamp here at a local college that will run for 6 months. The bootcamp focuses on full-stack development and I feel confident due to my building on learning the fundamental's and concepts of programming which have given me a good head start. Stefan is right, code everyday and after awhile you see the bigger picture and coding isn't so intimidating anymore. Because of my career I've always had to learn new tools in graphic software programs so I guess learning for me is nothing new. While learning programming I almost gave up several times but I stuck with it and excited about the potential opportunities on the horizon. Thank you Stefan for your honest and positive messages here on TH-cam and thank you for teaching me the fundamental's and what has helped me build a strong foundation on this coding journey.
32 y/o here, 100% agree with "calm and consistent". When I was younger I could devour material when it was interesting, but mundane stuff was killing me. Now I can grind trough boring shit if I know that end goal is interesting enough.
Great insights, thanks Stefan. I very much agree that an active mind grows with practice even into old age. I find that maturity brings with it patience and a confidence that, when things "aren't working", there is a reason, a solution, that will be found if you look in the right places - the frantic urgency of youth is not always a good thing. Also, the no.1 thing in programming (at any age) is to build things, practice solving real problems and you will soon find that the examples given in tutorials may only scratch the surface; confidence grows as you experiment and learn how to approach a particular problem. Thanks again Stefan, inspiring as always.
I'm 23 and you really motivated me to keep learning relentlessly for the rest of my my life I mean what else we supposed to do in this life other than learning and exploring new things making money and stop learning, well I choose to spend most of my time learning than making money, thank you for the advise.
Even though I've studied CS (and Java C/C++) in my 20's and worked in IT since then I never became a software dev which was something I wanted to do since I learned coding in my CS degree. Don't ask me why. I guess life happened. Anyways, I'm 39 now and currently improving my skills in Python and ML and Maths to become ML software engineer in a year or two! Never too late to learn! By the way, 'physiological' hacks you mentioned in your video are actually super, ultra important. I would also add daily full body stretching to it as sitting whole day (or standing in front of the standing desk for that matter) is really, really bad for our bodies.
@@nikolaybonapartov7379 Nothing fancy to be honest. Brilliant, Coursera and TH-cam mostly, and I'm doing a CS degree so it has some Maths as well, but lectures at my Uni aren't great. Once I feel comfortable with the above sources I will switch to reading actual ML papers as they will be more specific. Good luck! :)
Yeap I agree, stretching helps a lot! you can see difference, even the frequency thing, i think that was the most important one. Actually there is one more very important thing he din't mention in the video regarding the mindset, you should absolutely avoid any narcissitic thoughts and be humble, respect others and learn at ur own pace. You dont have to try so hard to be better than others, just focus on self is best. I made this mistake before, Now I feel great after changing my mistake.
This video is exactly why i am in your mentoring course since nov. 27th 2021. I obtained the HTML certfification on January 2 2022 and now i am in the middle of CSS course. Regards.
Another great video Stef! There are numerous studies that support cognitive acuity increasing with increasing physical fitness levels. There's no reason why somebody cannot have a second or third career later in life by learning to code.
I've been coding since I was in my 20s. I'm 64 now, and took on the most complex coding project I've ever done in my life when I was 60. I also had to learn more about using C# during that highly complex machine control project although I had done a few smaller C# projects prior to that one. The project was a success. I've really have been a life long learner and taught myself most of the languages and coding skills for machine and also process automation as well as mechanical engineering. I had some coding training and electrical engineering training in college but it was a pittance compared to what I've learned since then. I agree with Stef's comments.
Been a developer for many, many years and the reality is that the older you become (mostly 50+), the more difficult it will be to get a job writing code. So, when it's time to update your resume, only include the last 10 years of employment. It's valid and will get you an interview better if they think you are younger by looking at your job history. It is not lying and it is legit.
Hey Youngman, I'm kicking 60. Just registered in college for computer science Bachelor degree program. You are young man, it's all in your head. Get it out and just do it. To me nothing is hard when you pay your mind because it's what going to pay your bills easier. You can do it!!!
@@erickheredia8910 the urge of learning and being perfection. At least that's what my friends and family tell me. And ofcourse in coding you can't make any mistakes. Also I'm coming from 20 years of general construction background. Don't be discouraged by anyone or anything. Believe in yourself. I've have a quote " you achieve what you perceive ". Good luck.
Thanks Stef! Good advices. Generally I think there's need of a bit clarification. IMHO there are three levels. 1.Learn to code (basic level) 2.Get hired as developer 3.Become/being good enough for the period until retire I think the first one is the easiest one and the third one is the hardest. I went through the first two so far. I am 41yo and currently working as Junior web dev(backend). During the 9 months I've been working on this position I constantly feel pressure as I see how slow I am comparing to my half aged colleagues. On top of that there are lot's of things I have to learn in order to be valuable for the team including shell scripting, kubernetes, docker, git, azure. As I have a family I do not have much time out of working hours for learning. I'm constantly thinking of leaving my current job and to look for a bit slower paced one. I really do like programming but doing it professionally is harder than most newbies think or at least I thought. Your thoughts about this question would be also interesting: Are you to old to become professional developer?
The things I relate to most are, the exercise thing. You can Actuslly feel difference in flexibility in thinking in days when you are more physically active. The drinking water is also very very true. And the most impactful one and the something of which the difference you will feel very soon is the frequency thing. this is very true. I am 21 though, lol look at me thinking im already too old, I see people who are 50+ commenting here, kudos
I decided on a career change last year. I tooled up by learning SQL and R, and was admitted into a Data Science master's program where I got 'A' grades in my first two courses. By the middle of '22 I will be halfway through the master's, having achieved some level of proficiency in SQL, R, Python and C. What I've found with coding is that whereas my memory for the precise syntax is not the best, though still good, my ability to grasp the underlying abstractions is as good as it's ever been. This capacity for abstraction, I feel, more than makes up for my memory gaps. To be fair, though, I've always been mathematically inclined, having obtained an engineering undergraduate degree and first coded in the 1980s. I also speak four human languages and have a master's degree. Use it or lose it. My BMI is 24 and I am 53 years of age. I fast intermittently most every day and my BMI is 24, do not smoke and hardly ever drink.
I'll be 59 this year and have been a software engineer for 24 years now, technology since 84. Healthy(ish) lifestyle and can often draw upon the past experience mostly these days. I haven't noticed to much degradation, I'm sure it's there based on biology as you say. Likely do it for another 2 years maybe as I build my private equity company.
Love your videos. Not only you have great advice, But you also don't need bells and whistles, fireworks and flying pigeons or something on TH-cam nowadays... and it's refreshing.
Yo tengo 66 pero toda mi vida me ha gustado aprender, luego tengo mi método de investigación para aprender con alegría y motivación, no me espanta la ciencia, ni el conocimiento, aunque parezca difícil.
Great points I agree. I’ve been struggling but what your saying is accurate practice does make perfect I have to make more time for the learning curve and be patient
Question. How big of a deal will agisim be, I'm 47, a hardcore computer nerd for 20 years, in good shape, probably look 35. My local tech college has a great reviewed program, that seems to teach all the things you promote with regards to web development. Pell grant would pay for everything so it's basically free. Having already done python coding many years ago, I could get up to speed quickly. Could I realistically land a job(pay doesn't matter) that would let me work from a laptop/home? I have ZERO ego and no delusions, I'm not looking to climb any ladders, just settle into a job working with computers and coding/troubleshooting from home.
Hi: Good for you R.G. Please see my msg. with the 😊😊👍 on the end. Stephan is just saying about the good shape, to be as healthy as you can to feel better, not really to look better, unless yu really want too. I look pretty good, for my age, but to get hired that doesn't matter, does it? No, you need to know your stuff and be confident in your ability, that's all. I do believe that Stephen would agree on that. /but S. does agree to practice, practice, and that is what I'm doing on my own to get hired.
Connie Barrick, I applaud you. You encouraged me even more. I'm just like yourself. I never give up. Just learned basic Python at 60. Working on HTML now.
I think the only disadvantage to learning at 40 is short term memory may not be as good. Or at least this is what I'm finding. Overall I think I can learn just as well, and in some ways better. I'm more inclined to think bigger picture and question the "so what" of the topic I'm learning. Practical application is way more important to me than rote learning things like I did in my uni days.
Awesome explanation 💪💪💪 But I dont know why he didn't just say it plainly that getting in shape also means working out (sport)...and yes workout helps the brain a whole lot
It’s not really an old issue it’s more of willpower issue many 50 year old will tell you if something doesn’t hold their internet they lose interest or just don’t wanna put that much work into studying.that’s why coding if your gonna take that route is very important at a young age because of the ambition of the individual and even though it holds their interest it’s not the money factor that grabs the young individual
I think if you're 40+ and barely know anything about computers it will be very difficult, but if you've already learned the basics of computer science, maybe learned to write a few Python scripts in your 30s, it will make it a little easier. However, if you've never had any interest in computers or coding, but want to start this career at 40 or 50 out of financial desperation, then you're probably not going to have a good time.
everyone should be lifelong learners. even if you don't want to work for someone else for the rest of your life, you might get skills that allow you to freelance and make money in retirement. i plan to always learn something, no matter how old i am. one day, i'm gonna learn piano. use it or lose it. that's why people die after they retire. they stop doing things.
I am 41 and have been coding for 20 years or so, Peronally it is hard for me to learn new things. Especially If I am used to some old tech and I start to learn something newer I feel so overwhelmed, everything seems to be so complicated.. Don't know why, maybe my passion for coding is gone. It doesn't feel good anymore if the code is highly complex because of new tech (which supposed to make the code better / faster / more maintainable). Or maybe I really should start to exercise.
Burn-out? If learning something new feels like a duty and not a pleasure, that usually means you need a break from keyboard, to find again the curiosity. The other option is, not everything new is actually better ;-)
How do you get started and how much is it? Just got hurt at work and I am looking to possibly change careers. Coding sounds interesting, I used to be an IT Recruiter so I am familiar with some of the terms.
Great content here. The question that I have as a 37-year-old learning to code is how much harder is it to find a job at an older age than say a 20 something year old entering the job market? Anyone can learn to code but is the market biased towards younger people for employment? Why or why not?
If it's any consolation to you? I changed career and went into coding at the age of 39, that was 10 years ago, I am 49 now, it was the best move I've ever made in my life.
I am 41 and few months ago I started as junior backend .Net developer. Sometimes is really downting to see how slow I am comparing to colleagues of mine who are half of my age. Also there so many things to learn and it definitely is required to spend a bit extra time out of working hours, but I just do not have mental power for more and as I have family I also prefer to spend time with them. Keeping the pace definitely requires self-discipline and good time management.
Please juxtapose that with the phrase, " you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Now the true nature of the challenge is made explicit. It's hard and not many will accomplish it. " Hope " is nice. Being real & speaking truthfully is what displaced workers need to hear.
Hello. Just saw your video. I never wrote a single code in my life. 41 years old. Wanna give it a try. Right now I don't have any hardware. I wanted to buy a Samsung flagship phone and use dex instead of getting a computer. Can I learn/ work with my phone only or do I need a pc also
I haven’t used the phone to code but I am guessing you will need a PC of some kind. The good news is that you can get any bargain machine … coding doesn’t need power.
One reason sleep is so important is that is when the brain washes out a day's biochemical waste products, leaving the brain refreshed for the next day.
But what if, like me, your problem isn't a lack of confidence in your ability to pick up new things so much as a lack of hope that anyone's going to give you a chance?
Dude, no problem with learning but I don't want to work my whole life to make money just to have a "normal" life lol. I worked with a colleague who only had three years of work before retirement. He didn't want to learn new things and I don't blame him. Also you get to a certain age where you don't always want to be someone else's donkey.
Yes but we do not write a code we write a blueprint. We program and we blueprint. But we do not code because we are not the FBI/NSA/CIA for instance. Wether I am right or I am wrong. It is the philosophy that matters because it keeps the brain also fit! :) To live forever and unbreakable. Hallowed are the engineers.
I'm going to give you a different perspective. Ageism exists because most developers are under 35. I am in a minority at 45+ and I have noticed its harder to remember the stuff these days than it was 25 years ago. I have to step through code again and again and again now, because i forget the context from an hour ago when i was half way through the debugging session, for example. I just can't focus as long as i used to. For this reason , i say coding is a young mans game ... obviously there are exceptions. Coding jobs are often long hours and require out-of-hours study to keep up-to-date, married guys often don't want to do that. So, when most of the coders are under 35, do they want to hire someone who is 55? That person probably won't fit in, and won't work long hours and hang out after work. The cultural fit might be bad. However, remote working could help older guys since they never have to meet their colleagues. However, if you are new and trying to learn, you do not want to be working remotely. You want to be at the coal face soaking it all up. By all means learn to code at 55, but if you are thrown in at the deep end, maintaining a code base with 100s of 1000s of lines of code (at start of your career you won't be writing code from a blank slate, you will be maintaining code others wrote years ago..many people never get beyond that stage), doing that under pressure, with 30 year old peers who are willing to do 10 hour days day after day after day... you are going to struggle. I have only seen a couple of programmers over 50 years of age, in 25 years of work. Most programmers get out of it by 40. The older programmers that you find tend to be freelance and very good at it.
I dislike the whole , "got laid off? Just learn to code and you'll be fine." That's marketing hype that Colleges/boot camps/cert vendors use to fill classroom spaces or sell on-line modules. If you have a physical talent for tech, i. e. photographic memory or you are on the spectrum where you have mental gifts, go right ahead. But for the rest of us folks with average IQ & work ethic, coding is HARD. Let's say you somehow labor thru to the point you have marketable skills on the planetary labor market. (You convinced your parents to fund well-regarded boot camps/learning modules & you lined up gurus/tutors to help you along). Time to rejoice and reap the $$ from your new skills, right? Time to start a family ? Nope. Contracts are measured in as little as a few months or a few years. Tech changes year to year. What skills were in demand in 2017 are no longer lucrative in 2019 ( the talent in India/Phillipines/Ireland has come online ). Every knowledgeable tech veteran knows, after their daily 6-10 hours of work, they need to invest the rest of time learning the next new language/software on the horizon. You need to retool your programming skills and pray what you chose to learn is , in fact, going to be marketable for more than just a year. It is this intense.
@@ferndog1461 The other thing is, to master programming for a living, takes 10 years work in my opinion. Yes, there are some top guns who get there quicker. It's a hard job and you will leave work exhausted, and you probably won't have much fun at work. You can make some decent money at it, if you are good. Unless you are in the top 20%, most of the work you do will be fairly mechanical and not that intellectually stimulating compared to what you looked at in Uni. My advice to those who choose to go into development is 1)get a second skillset, eg. machine learning, 2)get a mentor, 3)be realistic about your capabilities and target appropriate companies, if you are not that good do not target Google early on, as a relatively small fish you will be sidelined to crappy work and you won't learn much, better to be a big fish in a smaller pond in order to master your trade quicker and later move up to Google, 4)read and analyse code a lot, its more important than being able to write code since most of the time you will be working on existing code bases, 5)stay generalist while you are young, avoid learning one companies bespoke software inside out thus trapping yourself, make sure you are learning transferrable skills, then specialise once you have mastered your trade - thats where the $ lies, 6) pick the hardest most transferrable skills to learn, easy stuff is worthless in the market, you do not want to compete in a skill that can be self taught in a few weeks, too much competition, eg. steer clear of PHP, 7) in the early days sacrifice $ for experience, take jobs where you can learn stuff, the $ will come later. During these hard times of mastering your trade, remember to socialise properly, you are only young once
I watched almost all of your videos, some more than ones. Thanks for making them. Here is my question - How realistic is landing a job for self-taught old fart like me?
That's the question. Seems like after 50, you are relegated to the trash heap. However, reputable studies show that most innovations come from the over 50 crowd. Funny culture we live in, still evaluating everything through the lens of fertility.
I'm 74. I worked as a toolmaker for 50 years. Coding sounds interesting. Especially Web developing, and Python 3
Go for it, old timer.
Hi Ronnie: I'm also your age and just begun to understand coding after the third class. I did realize that I really did not appreciate my teacher. So, I changed teachers and went on on-line for the first time, wel-lay, I got it so good, I was sooooooo-----happy. So, I hope, I have some desperate students that are not getting it, be, patience, and maybe try another teacher, until you get it. This is not an easy course to learn. Everyone wants too, learn, because of the money. Remember, it is not for everyone, but if you can get it, Hey!
Ronnie: and everyone else Good Luck! 😊😊😊😊👍👍
I highly recommend to start with Stef.
I’ve been learning some more advanced stuff now, but every time I’m learning I stop and think, thanks to Stef’s foundational teachings I’m able to understand this now.
Go for it!!!
The psychological stuff is spot on. In my early 40s I started to learn web development. I taught myself html, css, js, then php and mysql, back to JS for some Node and the MERN stack. Always in my head I heard myself saying 'You're too old. No company is going to hire you over these young hipster dorks' and it made me chicken out. Now I'm 46 and working in a factory for 12 hours a day. I learned A LOT and basically let all that knowledge go to waste because of the psychological impediments you referred to. And its a drag because I love coding.
I'm 56 and I don't have any difficulty learning new things, it's exactly the same as when I was 25.
I started programming Basic and Clipper, and today I program Swift and SwiftUI.
I find the older I get, the faster I learn. I think this is because there is an abstract level to information and skills that one becomes familiar with and can transfer to other endeavors. This is especially true, funny enough, if you learn one thing deeply enough. Learn math well, you can understand literature better. I believe this is called consilience. This explains why, despite popular misconceptions, older people are more creative and innovative than younger people.
Agree. We may learn slower, But we learn better, With more perspective, With a better deep understanding. And it's a bit more difficult, But as Stef says: People in this profession usually learn all the time.
Yes, I agree with you, older people gets to be more careful and patient with the process of learning and couple with experience of life they do far better because they feel they have limited time to achieve so much and have nothing to loose.
I am 42 and learned programming 4 years ago. Now I am building a Nodejs framework with Angular en GraphQL. Tip: practice a lot by doing a lot of personal projects.
I'm 48 and recently started your Web Dev course. Loving it so far, thank you!
Good luck! Welcome to this awesome journey!
Wish you all the best!
48 and you look gorgeous! 👍
Great to hear!
This inspires me as I'm also 48 and looking to hopefully return to the world of software dev very soon. I do have some past experience tho. :)
Trust me. If your brain is getting more' spongable' your heading for the checkout. I think your referring to neuro-plasticity ;). BTW I'm 66 years old and I spend at least 5 hours a day coding. For me a perfect day is one in which a coding task stretches before me. It's when I'm happiest. I would go so far as to say that coding should be on prescription for older people. It's a fantastic way of maintaining ( and indeed improving) cognitive flexibility.
Afirmativo, es deporte mental.
I have been learning c# for a while along with some commands lines, git, sql WebAPI etc. Hopefully going to start msc in computer science in September. I am 41 years old female. Every time I need a motivation I watch this video again and again. Thank you Stefan !!!
If you don't give up, you will make it. So don't give up!
You have touched this subject before and it cannot be emphasized more. I am 57 doing graduate work in statistics and applying for a data science or statistics masters in the next month or so. It is a struggle to keep the faith I can do this but honestly I love it even though it is hard. At 20 I did not have the intellectual ability. The pandemic is a horror but for doing work with others at a high level (since I was not in person classes with my white hair) it is so ideal. No one really likes turning on their video feed in Zoom during class I found (even in Discord)., but tablets and sharing screens - no problem. Studying with others on Discord etc. was wonderful for me and I have never interacted with fellow students and professors this much before in my life. I am trying to prepare myself for the inevitable in person awkwardness that might result from me sitting around so many "young" folk. Ageism is very real but the more of us out there the better it can be. Python, R, SAS, machine learning - so interesting but not easy at all. Your advice and encouragement have made a difference. My goal is to be able to apply data analysis techniques to the avalanche of medical, social and epidemiological data being generated. "Rage, rage...."
Your videos are so encouraging and inspiring. The world/youtube needs people like you.
Thanks!
Older I have find out that one using more time to learn because try to learn everything before do coding. When was young I did all kind of thing with small amount of knowledge, playing around with UI, database, connection, data structures etc.. -- but also systems was more simply in early days. Now there is so much to learn.
I'm 54 and have been taking a couple of courses including the StudioWeb course after hours due to working a demanding full time job as an Art Director. I recently enrolled in a part-time coding bootcamp here at a local college that will run for 6 months. The bootcamp focuses on full-stack development and I feel confident due to my building on learning the fundamental's and concepts of programming which have given me a good head start. Stefan is right, code everyday and after awhile you see the bigger picture and coding isn't so intimidating anymore. Because of my career I've always had to learn new tools in graphic software programs so I guess learning for me is nothing new. While learning programming I almost gave up several times but I stuck with it and excited about the potential opportunities on the horizon. Thank you Stefan for your honest and positive messages here on TH-cam and thank you for teaching me the fundamental's and what has helped me build a strong foundation on this coding journey.
Congratulations and glad I could help.
@@StefanMischook You're helping a lot of people. Thank you!!
Thank you Stefan. You are right "Fear 's mind-killer". I am 63. You gave me courage with this video.
32 y/o here, 100% agree with "calm and consistent". When I was younger I could devour material when it was interesting, but mundane stuff was killing me. Now I can grind trough boring shit if I know that end goal is interesting enough.
Great insights, thanks Stefan. I very much agree that an active mind grows with practice even into old age. I find that maturity brings with it patience and a confidence that, when things "aren't working", there is a reason, a solution, that will be found if you look in the right places - the frantic urgency of youth is not always a good thing.
Also, the no.1 thing in programming (at any age) is to build things, practice solving real problems and you will soon find that the examples given in tutorials may only scratch the surface; confidence grows as you experiment and learn how to approach a particular problem.
Thanks again Stefan, inspiring as always.
This 👆is 💯
this is genuine life advice for anyone, very wholesome. And to everyone who is older I'm proud of you for keeping your wits about you
I'm 23 and you really motivated me to keep learning relentlessly for the rest of my my life I mean what else we supposed to do in this life other than learning and exploring new things making money and stop learning, well I choose to spend most of my time learning than making money, thank you for the advise.
Even though I've studied CS (and Java C/C++) in my 20's and worked in IT since then I never became a software dev which was something I wanted to do since I learned coding in my CS degree. Don't ask me why. I guess life happened. Anyways, I'm 39 now and currently improving my skills in Python and ML and Maths to become ML software engineer in a year or two! Never too late to learn! By the way, 'physiological' hacks you mentioned in your video are actually super, ultra important. I would also add daily full body stretching to it as sitting whole day (or standing in front of the standing desk for that matter) is really, really bad for our bodies.
Yeah. The stretching thing is very important
Hey, what courses do you take for math and ML? I'm 37 and also interested!
@@nikolaybonapartov7379 Nothing fancy to be honest. Brilliant, Coursera and TH-cam mostly, and I'm doing a CS degree so it has some Maths as well, but lectures at my Uni aren't great. Once I feel comfortable with the above sources I will switch to reading actual ML papers as they will be more specific. Good luck! :)
@@konradd8545 got it, thanks! Funny enough, I was recently also targeted by Brilliant's ad, haha, specifically their math course. Thank you!
Yeap I agree, stretching helps a lot! you can see difference, even the frequency thing, i think that was the most important one.
Actually there is one more very important thing he din't mention in the video regarding the mindset, you should absolutely avoid any narcissitic thoughts and be humble, respect others and learn at ur own pace. You dont have to try so hard to be better than others, just focus on self is best. I made this mistake before, Now I feel great after changing my mistake.
I'm taking your course, and I have learned a lot. I appreciated the help. I needed this video, thanks again....
💯
Glad I could help. Keep up the good work.
This video is exactly why i am in your mentoring course since nov. 27th 2021. I obtained the HTML certfification on January 2 2022 and now i am in the middle of CSS course. Regards.
Congratulations on achieving the certification!
Another great video Stef! There are numerous studies that support cognitive acuity increasing with increasing physical fitness levels. There's no reason why somebody cannot have a second or third career later in life by learning to code.
You're such a wise & intelligent person! I love your videos! Thanks a lot!!! Greetings from Italy! 👍
I am always learning something new every day when I'm sitting around or to relax before bed. TH-cam is awesome for that aswell as reading PDF books.
"Fear is the mind killer". Yes.
I've been coding since I was in my 20s. I'm 64 now, and took on the most complex coding project I've ever done in my life when I was 60. I also had to learn more about using C# during that highly complex machine control project although I had done a few smaller C# projects prior to that one. The project was a success. I've really have been a life long learner and taught myself most of the languages and coding skills for machine and also process automation as well as mechanical engineering. I had some coding training and electrical engineering training in college but it was a pittance compared to what I've learned since then.
I agree with Stef's comments.
Thanks for the comment.
Been a developer for many, many years and the reality is that the older you become (mostly 50+), the more difficult it will be to get a job writing code.
So, when it's time to update your resume, only include the last 10 years of employment. It's valid and will get you an interview better if they think you are younger by looking at your job history. It is not lying and it is legit.
I'm 57 and JUST started learning SwiftUI / Xcode... My brain hurts!
It's hard at first. When you pass that barrier, sky is the limit.
Hey Youngman, I'm kicking 60. Just registered in college for computer science Bachelor degree program. You are young man, it's all in your head. Get it out and just do it. To me nothing is hard when you pay your mind because it's what going to pay your bills easier. You can do it!!!
@@mahmoodulhassan6607 Nice. What makes you do it?
@@erickheredia8910 the urge of learning and being perfection. At least that's what my friends and family tell me. And ofcourse in coding you can't make any mistakes. Also I'm coming from 20 years of general construction background. Don't be discouraged by anyone or anything. Believe in yourself. I've have a quote " you achieve what you perceive ". Good luck.
Thanks Stef! Good advices.
Generally I think there's need of a bit clarification.
IMHO there are three levels.
1.Learn to code (basic level)
2.Get hired as developer
3.Become/being good enough for the period until retire
I think the first one is the easiest one and the third one is the hardest.
I went through the first two so far.
I am 41yo and currently working as Junior web dev(backend).
During the 9 months I've been working on this position I constantly feel pressure as I see how slow I am comparing to my half aged colleagues. On top of that there are lot's of things I have to learn in order to be valuable for the team including shell scripting, kubernetes, docker, git, azure. As I have a family I do not have much time out of working hours for learning.
I'm constantly thinking of leaving my current job and to look for a bit slower paced one.
I really do like programming but doing it professionally is harder than most newbies think or at least I thought.
Your thoughts about this question would be also interesting:
Are you to old to become professional developer?
Thanks Stefan
The things I relate to most are, the exercise thing. You can Actuslly feel difference in flexibility in thinking in days when you are more physically active. The drinking water is also very very true. And the most impactful one and the something of which the difference you will feel very soon is the frequency thing. this is very true. I am 21 though, lol look at me thinking im already too old, I see people who are 50+ commenting here, kudos
I decided on a career change last year. I tooled up by learning SQL and R, and was admitted into a Data Science master's program where I got 'A' grades in my first two courses. By the middle of '22 I will be halfway through the master's, having achieved some level of proficiency in SQL, R, Python and C. What I've found with coding is that whereas my memory for the precise syntax is not the best, though still good, my ability to grasp the underlying abstractions is as good as it's ever been. This capacity for abstraction, I feel, more than makes up for my memory gaps. To be fair, though, I've always been mathematically inclined, having obtained an engineering undergraduate degree and first coded in the 1980s. I also speak four human languages and have a master's degree. Use it or lose it.
My BMI is 24 and I am 53 years of age. I fast intermittently most every day and my BMI is 24, do not smoke and hardly ever drink.
BMI 24 👍
Your theory on defrag sleep makes a lot of sense.
I'll be 59 this year and have been a software engineer for 24 years now, technology since 84. Healthy(ish) lifestyle and can often draw upon the past experience mostly these days. I haven't noticed to much degradation, I'm sure it's there based on biology as you say. Likely do it for another 2 years maybe as I build my private equity company.
Love your videos. Not only you have great advice, But you also don't need bells and whistles, fireworks and flying pigeons or something on TH-cam nowadays... and it's refreshing.
I left my flying pigeons at the office.
Your content explanation and obvious knowledge are amazing.
Thanks!
Yo tengo 66 pero toda mi vida me ha gustado aprender, luego tengo mi método de investigación para aprender con alegría y motivación, no me espanta la ciencia, ni el conocimiento, aunque parezca difícil.
leap of faith. Iv got that feeling right now as I am learning
Stefan Sir, thanks for posting a powerfully logical video. It encourages people like myself.
You’ve got a typo in caption 1, and I think you put it in there on purpose to test us “old ones.” 😂 Thanks, Stefan!
D'oh!
Great points I agree. I’ve been struggling but what your saying is accurate practice does make perfect I have to make more time for the learning curve and be patient
If you're watching his videos you're probably looking to learn and get a job as developer. If u are struggling don't give up. We can do this!!!
Thanks for the encouragement Stef
Welcome!
Hi Stef, the beef gelatin helped me a lot sir. Please do a video on good supplements and nutrition for coders. Thanks alot
Noted!
Much faster at doing things now than I ever was back in my 20s, wish I had worked out so many better techniques to do things.
You are very correct with your statement on this video. I love it.
Just do it! Sit down and concentrate for the first 5 mins
Question. How big of a deal will agisim be, I'm 47, a hardcore computer nerd for 20 years, in good shape, probably look 35. My local tech college has a great reviewed program, that seems to teach all the things you promote with regards to web development. Pell grant would pay for everything so it's basically free. Having already done python coding many years ago, I could get up to speed quickly. Could I realistically land a job(pay doesn't matter) that would let me work from a laptop/home? I have ZERO ego and no delusions, I'm not looking to climb any ladders, just settle into a job working with computers and coding/troubleshooting from home.
Hi: Good for you R.G. Please see my msg. with the 😊😊👍 on the end. Stephan is just saying about the good shape, to be as healthy as you can to feel better, not really to look better, unless yu really want too. I look pretty good, for my age, but to get hired that doesn't matter, does it? No, you need to know your stuff and be confident in your ability, that's all. I do believe that Stephen would agree on that. /but S. does agree to practice, practice, and that is what I'm doing on my own to get hired.
Connie Barrick, I applaud you. You encouraged me even more. I'm just like yourself. I never give up. Just learned basic Python at 60. Working on HTML now.
Yes, because I still use Ruby.
I think the only disadvantage to learning at 40 is short term memory may not be as good. Or at least this is what I'm finding. Overall I think I can learn just as well, and in some ways better. I'm more inclined to think bigger picture and question the "so what" of the topic I'm learning. Practical application is way more important to me than rote learning things like I did in my uni days.
Awesome explanation 💪💪💪
But I dont know why he didn't just say it plainly that getting in shape also means working out (sport)...and yes workout helps the brain a whole lot
Steve you are a genius.
Amazing minutes of knowledge! Appreaciations,
It’s not really an old issue it’s more of willpower issue many 50 year old will tell you if something doesn’t hold their internet they lose interest or just don’t wanna put that much work into studying.that’s why coding if your gonna take that route is very important at a young age because of the ambition of the individual and even though it holds their interest it’s not the money factor that grabs the young individual
I loved this analogy “Good sleeping is like defragging your brain”.
Excellent video, thanks! 👍
Glad you liked it!
Thanks for your solid advice!
Welcome!
young people have time, old dont, when young tech speeds up when old slows down ...most important in coding test your code...
I found this very interesting, thank you.
I think if you're 40+ and barely know anything about computers it will be very difficult, but if you've already learned the basics of computer science, maybe learned to write a few Python scripts in your 30s, it will make it a little easier. However, if you've never had any interest in computers or coding, but want to start this career at 40 or 50 out of financial desperation, then you're probably not going to have a good time.
everyone should be lifelong learners. even if you don't want to work for someone else for the rest of your life, you might get skills that allow you to freelance and make money in retirement. i plan to always learn something, no matter how old i am. one day, i'm gonna learn piano. use it or lose it. that's why people die after they retire. they stop doing things.
I am 41 and have been coding for 20 years or so, Peronally it is hard for me to learn new things. Especially If I am used to some old tech and I start to learn something newer I feel so overwhelmed, everything seems to be so complicated.. Don't know why, maybe my passion for coding is gone. It doesn't feel good anymore if the code is highly complex because of new tech (which supposed to make the code better / faster / more maintainable). Or maybe I really should start to exercise.
Burn-out? If learning something new feels like a duty and not a pleasure, that usually means you need a break from keyboard, to find again the curiosity. The other option is, not everything new is actually better ;-)
How do you get started and how much is it? Just got hurt at work and I am looking to possibly change careers. Coding sounds interesting, I used to be an IT Recruiter so I am familiar with some of the terms.
I needed this thank you good sir
Hi! Stef, I am 52 years old and want to learn to code, what is the best "computer language" to learn as a beginner in computer programming or coding?
Stefan what programs should I learn to code?
I have a full mentoring program: studioweb.com/mentoring-subscribe And my solo learn courses. Check for links under my videos.
Write code daily!
Great content here. The question that I have as a 37-year-old learning to code is how much harder is it to find a job at an older age than say a 20 something year old entering the job market? Anyone can learn to code but is the market biased towards younger people for employment? Why or why not?
Depends on the place of work. That said, you are 37.... hardly in the danger-zone. Don't worry about it.
If it's any consolation to you? I changed career and went into coding at the age of 39, that was 10 years ago, I am 49 now, it was the best move I've ever made in my life.
I am 41 and few months ago I started as junior backend .Net developer.
Sometimes is really downting to see how slow I am comparing to colleagues of mine who are half of my age.
Also there so many things to learn and it definitely is required to spend a bit extra time out of working hours, but I just do not have mental power for more and as I have family I also prefer to spend time with them.
Keeping the pace definitely requires self-discipline and good time management.
I have covid, fever, I'm hallucinating, but yeah you are right ;)
"If you feel you are too old for rock and roll, you are too old for rock and roll" - Lemmy
You're never too old to learn 😉
Please juxtapose that with the phrase, " you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Now the true nature of the challenge is made explicit. It's hard and not many will accomplish it. " Hope " is nice. Being real & speaking truthfully is what displaced workers need to hear.
@@ferndog1461 I feel that what I said is adequate; short, sweet and to the point 😏
At 50? Honestly idk brother but I can say that school was never for me, although I do keep learning as I get older so maybe there's hope yet
I equate sleep to run time garbage collection. It is a time for brain to release unneeded resources.
That works too.
i finally completed coding and got 2 apps onto play store at age 51. so answer is no!!
Congratulations! 👍 This is for all the naysayers: 🍼
I wish I had someone to teach me to code
If you reply, Ill try! I will recommend a good book, too! P. S. I hope I don't get into trouble, but please reply.
Look at links below this video.
@@StefanMischook ok
How to apply for yours lessons, and how much costs? I am in Europe and would like to learn coding, also find a job as coder.
Here you go: studioweb.com/mentoring
Motivation for me.
Hello. Just saw your video. I never wrote a single code in my life. 41 years old. Wanna give it a try. Right now I don't have any hardware. I wanted to buy a Samsung flagship phone and use dex instead of getting a computer. Can I learn/ work with my phone only or do I need a pc also
I haven’t used the phone to code but I am guessing you will need a PC of some kind. The good news is that you can get any bargain machine … coding doesn’t need power.
@@StefanMischook thanks. Appreciate it. And your vids 👍👍
This is new didn't know your bmi determines your learning ability
One reason sleep is so important is that is when the brain washes out a day's biochemical waste products, leaving the brain refreshed for the next day.
But what if, like me, your problem isn't a lack of confidence in your ability to pick up new things so much as a lack of hope that anyone's going to give you a chance?
O mair problema é aprender a criar uma aplicação útil.
I like that sleeping theory. I never look at it like that.👍🏿✅
Very motivational
I am 32 and I still dont know how to code. Never give up!
Same.
Is anybody gonna hire me as a coder in my early 50s. That's the real question.
Dude, no problem with learning but I don't want to work my whole life to make money just to have a "normal" life lol.
I worked with a colleague who only had three years of work before retirement. He didn't want to learn new things and I don't blame him.
Also you get to a certain age where you don't always want to be someone else's donkey.
Watch my previous video where I teach you a strategy where you don’t work your whole life.
For most of us, the best we can hope for is being a donkey with flexible PTO benefits. Lol.
Instead of taking advices , they are getting offended
Yes but we do not write a code we write a blueprint. We program and we blueprint. But we do not code because we are not the FBI/NSA/CIA for instance.
Wether I am right or I am wrong. It is the philosophy that matters because it keeps the brain also fit! :)
To live forever and unbreakable.
Hallowed are the engineers.
I'm going to give you a different perspective. Ageism exists because most developers are under 35. I am in a minority at 45+ and I have noticed its harder to remember the stuff these days than it was 25 years ago. I have to step through code again and again and again now, because i forget the context from an hour ago when i was half way through the debugging session, for example. I just can't focus as long as i used to. For this reason , i say coding is a young mans game ... obviously there are exceptions. Coding jobs are often long hours and require out-of-hours study to keep up-to-date, married guys often don't want to do that. So, when most of the coders are under 35, do they want to hire someone who is 55? That person probably won't fit in, and won't work long hours and hang out after work. The cultural fit might be bad. However, remote working could help older guys since they never have to meet their colleagues. However, if you are new and trying to learn, you do not want to be working remotely. You want to be at the coal face soaking it all up. By all means learn to code at 55, but if you are thrown in at the deep end, maintaining a code base with 100s of 1000s of lines of code (at start of your career you won't be writing code from a blank slate, you will be maintaining code others wrote years ago..many people never get beyond that stage), doing that under pressure, with 30 year old peers who are willing to do 10 hour days day after day after day... you are going to struggle. I have only seen a couple of programmers over 50 years of age, in 25 years of work. Most programmers get out of it by 40. The older programmers that you find tend to be freelance and very good at it.
I dislike the whole , "got laid off? Just learn to code and you'll be fine." That's marketing hype that Colleges/boot camps/cert vendors use to fill classroom spaces or sell on-line modules. If you have a physical talent for tech, i. e. photographic memory or you are on the spectrum where you have mental gifts, go right ahead. But for the rest of us folks with average IQ & work ethic, coding is HARD. Let's say you somehow labor thru to the point you have marketable skills on the planetary labor market. (You convinced your parents to fund well-regarded boot camps/learning modules & you lined up gurus/tutors to help you along). Time to rejoice and reap the $$ from your new skills, right? Time to start a family ? Nope. Contracts are measured in as little as a few months or a few years. Tech changes year to year. What skills were in demand in 2017 are no longer lucrative in 2019 ( the talent in India/Phillipines/Ireland has come online ). Every knowledgeable tech veteran knows, after their daily 6-10 hours of work, they need to invest the rest of time learning the next new language/software on the horizon. You need to retool your programming skills and pray what you chose to learn is , in fact, going to be marketable for more than just a year. It is this intense.
@@ferndog1461 The other thing is, to master programming for a living, takes 10 years work in my opinion. Yes, there are some top guns who get there quicker. It's a hard job and you will leave work exhausted, and you probably won't have much fun at work. You can make some decent money at it, if you are good. Unless you are in the top 20%, most of the work you do will be fairly mechanical and not that intellectually stimulating compared to what you looked at in Uni. My advice to those who choose to go into development is 1)get a second skillset, eg. machine learning, 2)get a mentor, 3)be realistic about your capabilities and target appropriate companies, if you are not that good do not target Google early on, as a relatively small fish you will be sidelined to crappy work and you won't learn much, better to be a big fish in a smaller pond in order to master your trade quicker and later move up to Google, 4)read and analyse code a lot, its more important than being able to write code since most of the time you will be working on existing code bases, 5)stay generalist while you are young, avoid learning one companies bespoke software inside out thus trapping yourself, make sure you are learning transferrable skills, then specialise once you have mastered your trade - thats where the $ lies, 6) pick the hardest most transferrable skills to learn, easy stuff is worthless in the market, you do not want to compete in a skill that can be self taught in a few weeks, too much competition, eg. steer clear of PHP, 7) in the early days sacrifice $ for experience, take jobs where you can learn stuff, the $ will come later. During these hard times of mastering your trade, remember to socialise properly, you are only young once
I'm approaching 40 , too old to learn from this video
😂
Fasting ketosis is far better for cognitive boosting than coffee
Fasting is huuuuge.
I’m 28, am I too old to code?!
😂… you’re just a kid! I have furniture older than you. Start learning now!!
Im a total shithead at coding but i don't want to die a security guard so i will bruteforce my way to it
Stefan if you are older you can learn. There is an 80 year old Japanese lady building her own games coding. LOL, what's your excuse.
Yes! I saw that! Thanks for reminding me!
That's awesome. It encourages my ego. Yes it's never to late. I just learned basic Python a week ago at age 60.
When you’re older you have more life responsibilities so you might not have the ability to learn new things
It's about scheduling. You can make good progress with just 20-30 minutes / day.
I watched almost all of your videos, some more than ones. Thanks for making them. Here is my question - How realistic is landing a job for self-taught old fart like me?
That's the question. Seems like after 50, you are relegated to the trash heap. However, reputable studies show that most innovations come from the over 50 crowd. Funny culture we live in, still evaluating everything through the lens of fertility.
All comes down to skill. Just work on your chops and things will happen. A little everyday goes a long way.
Thanks, will do.
semen retention also help to keep mind healthy
Sometimes there is a cost to high to pay.
I'm 28 and I thought I was too old to learn code lol.
😂
You’re a young 🐶… go for it!!!
No
Great talent, keep up the good work. You are late to the party > P R O M O S M!!!
I'm 57. Definitely too old.
Uhh … we have several 70 yr olds on this thread learning with success.