I've been writing code for 48 years, and I think I can keep going

This is an answer from quroa to the question: Why-aren't-there-a-lot-of-old-programmers-at-software-companies.

Many people wonder if programmers can only switch to management, and if they should give up programming after middle age. I was very touched after seeing this answer, and I tried my best to translate it. If there is anything inappropriate, please point it out.

[[156037]]

I'm turning 69 next week. I've been programming since 1967. That's 48 years now, from COBOL to jQuery. I've forgotten more programming languages ​​than most programmers will ever encounter in their lifetime. I now take on some of my own projects because I'm a complete workaholic as an employee, even in my 30s. I will never go back to a traditional programming job with an 8-hour day.

I've written two or three million or four million lines of code, and I feel like I should at least... Uh... Never mind. There's no point in writing more code unless it has a positive impact on people I care about. (Original text: a positive impact on people I care about. It's similar to the "make world a better place" in Silicon Valley.)

One of the benefits of getting older is that I no longer believe in those stupid ideas that one idea can change the world. I just want to do my job well and give users a better product experience.

But there is a very obvious disadvantage for an old programmer. The world is changing very fast, and faster and faster. 15 years ago, I plunged into C++, and I was very proficient in it. About 4 years ago, I became addicted to jQuery, and learned how to hook jQuery and C# together to quickly implement a user interface. 3 years ago, I retired from the company, so I started to pay attention to C# again and became addicted to WordPress. Now it's Drupal (a framework of PHP). The trend is that it is getting harder and harder for me to learn something new. I am still trying to write a WordPress plugin with local storage and Web Workers, and debugging these really makes me a little tired.

But what I really want to insist on is to keep programming, don't stop, because I really love programming, in fact, it's the only thing I know. Unlike interpersonal communication and building a social circle, which I have only started to try to do in the past 20 years.

So the left brain for programming and the right brain for relationships keeps my life balanced. It definitely works because I have been married to a beautiful woman for over 40 years and I have a wonderful relationship with my three children.

I have set myself a goal to write for at least 50 years (until June 2017). Then I want to become the co-founder of the Mankind Project & New Warriors Training Adventure when I am 70. It is very challenging. You can come back in a few years to see how I am doing.