[–]anon79285 -7 points 3 hours ago*
Programmers are created purposefully from adolescence to age 25, their brains are grown like a seed in a pot over decades. You need at least a decade inside that window if you want maximum probability to bloom, like a slow growing hard wood tree. If you miss the fertilization window from human age 12 to 25 (arguably 32 is the very end), then it's like you're trying to become a lawyer, pilot, or doctor or dentist at age 50 (assuming you are starting with no relevant experience). Your attempt is a waste of society's good will and good resources. When you apply to law school, medical school, pilot school, dentist-school, then admissions is either going to laugh in your face and tell you to fucking get lost, retard, or reluctantly comply, out of a spirit of pity for your, but everyone will be rolling their eyes at you, as you did the mentally disabled and retarded kid in school, trying his hardest to keep up. It's just sad like watching a dog struggle yet drown in a pool, with nobody to help it. We want to help, but we can't. Resources are wasted on you like watering a dead plant that won't grow.
When I am accused of a crime or felony, I visit a 50 year old attorney or lawyer, who hasn't been to law school, and has only been practicing for a few years.
When I go to the doctors for brain surgery on myself or someone I love, I want a 50 year old doctor, who's only been practicing and preparing his surgical procedures and theory of surgery for a few years.
When I ride on an interplanetary vehicle to another planet, I want a 50 year old captain at the helm who's only been preparing for said voyage for a few years.
When I buy a car, I want a car that's been designed by a 50 year old engineer who has only been perfecting his engineering craft for a few years.
When I download a piece of software, I want one designed by a 50 year old programmer who has only been programming for a few years.
Listen closely, Programming well is physically harder than Doctoring, Lawyering, Piloting, good Dentistry and some may argue, even combined. And so the fact that programming has no equivalent of "State bar" or otherwise "Government controlled proof-of-competence training regimen" does not indicate that you will be able to compete with your peers in any way shape or form if you get in the game late.
I've been in programming for over 15 years now, and the gradient between the proficient and the useless is on every team I've been a part of, is absolutely stunning. There are always 1 or 2 key employees who perform at the level of 10 or 100 other developers combined, and then there are the 90% of other programmers who's joint contribution is at the same level of those 1 or 2 proficient ones. It's such a remarkable gradient, that salaries in programming are starting to look exponential, like the salaries of pro-footballers and pro-sports-ball players, with million dollar golden chain pay annual compensation packages. Already starting to be seen at places like Apple, Tesla, Linkedin, Netflix, (300k-500k annual equiv salaries) because one programmer who has the capacity to generate tens, and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue (a river of money for their CEO), single handedly. And these programmers know their worth. And their CEO's know their worth. If you get in the game after 30, you will not become one of these people.
You people who have not been purposefully training to be a programmer since you were 12 years old, you are not going to contribute to this field. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the universe doesn't give a shit about you. This civilization and the people in it will forgive you for your lack of contribution, as long as you put in your best personal effort. But do not deceive yourself. If you are getting into programming after age 12, your odds of success decrease linearly up to age 22, then exponentially, asymptoting to zero to age 35. After 35, you will forever be a waste of resources. You will piddle around, sure, but your name will not be etched into the 100 and 10000 year archives, as like Steve Wozniak, John Carmack. Or the other legendary programmers who have created the world around you. All the miracles of technology around you were created by people like me, and we don't mollycoddle the uninitiated. There's a bit of luck to it too. Hard work isn't even enough.
If you are younger than 21 years old, there is time, but you are like a 38 year old single-woman wanting a relationship for a pregnancy. You have a shelf life that is a total hard-stop. You better get on the fucking ball and move fast, because the neurons you are committing to reading this shitpost, is wasted configuration and the window is closing on you as you speak. Find a mentor, go to a respected college for CS, or get a job just doing it.
If you don't like how that sounds, then go be a doctor, lawyer, brain surgeon, or pilot. And get laughed at. Programming is not different or unique from these other professions. The very-low barrier to entry creates a false sense that it is a low-effort high return career path. It is not, expect to be worked to death.
hopes.stanford.edu
