Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
This comes up approximately annually. I used to answer at length. But now at 69 brevity seems more productive. I am probably nearing the end of my accidental unplanned drunkard's walk career, one that start in 1967 when I was dropped (unskilled 19 yr old college hippie drop-out) into the inside (literally) of a mainframe and told to "make it work". wandered subsequently through probably every computing field, and lately do audio DSP work inside game consoles. Inside the inside of a current SOC inside a black box.<p>My conclusion: there is no formula for staying relevant. Perhaps an understanding of the roots and rapid skill acquisition, but beyond that every second I spent learning a new framework just because has been a second wasted. By the timne I was somewhere it was poossibly relevant, it was already dead and replaced or I was too far ahead of the time and had to write my own.<p>Further, and sadly, after 50 some years in the biz, I still understand the insides of current SOC chips, and I shouldn't - no progress has been made in practical computing thoeretics at all. Lots of embellishment, lots of band-aids, nothing really different. Otherwise I would not be able to do this job.<p>Yes, really, brief this time. $0.01 instead of a full $.