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When does one become too old to program? Do people feel that they become less able to solve problems as they age? Were they better programmers in their 20's than in their 30's and 40's? Or do they feel that because as they've aged they know more, so when solving a problem it takes more time because the search space of solutions to evaluate is larger?

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You're too old when the crystal in your palm turns black. – Caleb Sep 17 '12 at 13:53
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@Caleb - The irony is that someone in their 20's, and maybe even 30's, is unlikely to understand that excellent reference. – jfrankcarr Sep 17 '12 at 14:37
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When I was a young whipper-snapper I could code 3 or 4 times as many lines of code as I do now. However, I solve/include 3 or 4 times as many features with fewer bugs in a fourth the number of lines of code than I did back then. Perhaps what you consider slow is really just being wiser and more efficient? – Dunk Sep 17 '12 at 14:45
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My father is 69 years old and he is still working as a programmer. What about it? – Sulthan Sep 17 '12 at 14:51
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I have never seen a good programmer in his 20s who wasn't a far better programmer in his 30s and 40s and beyond. Experience makes a huge difference in our field. I have seen bad 20 something programmers get better with experience, but sadly, some bad programmers remain bad no matter their age. – HLGEM Sep 17 '12 at 16:07
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closed as not constructive by Caleb, Thomas Owens♦ Sep 17 '12 at 13:51

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