mannclay

I am teaching myself C and Python through e-books and paper books. I am 32ys old and wondering if employers could care less about when I started and wondering how can I get experience to offer to employers. I am a proficient user of Mac and Linux OS and can do typical admin stuff for myself.

I know I need to do this, its too much fun and hope to make some money freelancing as well.

I would love to read some opinions and tips...

sean

A lot of employers wont even consider you unless you have a degree AND experience - which makes it pretty dang hard to get your first programming job!

Freelancing is a good start to prove yourself with experience, but it'll require a lot of work to be ready. I wouldn't say your age is an obstacle - especially if you already understand how to use Linux, etc...

My advice is to practice. I learn a lot through books as well - but until I started making little programs to try stuff out myself, it really hurt my learning. Just pick little projects and work through it, and it'll help you target your learning best.

abachler

I didn't get my first 'programmer' job until I was in my 30's, although I had a lot of experience programming in 'non-programmer' jobs, e.g. I worked as an electrician and a controls engineer for many years, both positions involved programming PLC's and other manufacturing equipment, often in C/C++. Granted, I've been programmign as a hobby since I was 9 and I can discuss the specific details of just about every intel processor made, which went a long way to assuaging any concerns.

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Until you can build a working general purpose reprogrammable computer out of basic components from radio shack, you are not fit to call yourself a programmer in my presence. This is cwhizard, signing off.

Daved

A similar question was just asked: Am I too late to learn programming?

Short answer, no it's not too late. If you are good at it and you work hard you will likely find and enjoy work as a programmer.

Nightowl

"When the will to learn exists, then learning exists."

Forgotten where that quote is from . . . but you get the point.

No, it is *never* too late to learn something. Granted, as you get older, most people get more set in their ways and have a little bit of a harder time bending your mind around something new. However, if you're willing to learn, then it's never too late.

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Do as I say, not as I do . . .

Experimentation is the essence of programming. Just remember to make a backup first.

"I'm a firm believer that <SomeGod> gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason - we are supposed to listen, twice as much as we talk." - LEAF

Questions posted by these guidelines are more likely to be answered.

Debian GNU/Linux user, with the awesome window manager, the git version control system, and the cmake buildsystem generator.

Memloop

The question is not if it's possible to learn programming at such an age (which of course it is), but rather how employers will look at a relatively old person with little to no professional programming experience.

I would say the best route is to get involved in open source projects, possibly creating your own project, so you have a portfolio of code to show to potential employers.

ulillillia

Even if you were 120 years old, that's not too old. There's still centenarians that still learn job skills or new techniques for their existing job.

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whiteflags

I'm quite surprised you've met any centenarians who aren't retired.

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<Niggawatts> Writing is like a cyborg dragon.

brewbuck

Somebody that old and presumably wise, should be spending their time educating the rest of us how not to suck as human beings, not toiling away for their final years.

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ulillillia

I've heard about some on CNN. They are rare, but they do exist. I think the one I heard was 104.

__________________
High elevation is the best elevation. The higher, the better the view!
My computer: XP Pro SP3, 3.17 GHz C2D CPU, 4 GB DDRII800 RAM (3 GB effective), X-Fi Platinum sound, GeForce 7600 GT, 1920x1440 resolution, 250 GB HDD, Visual C++ 2008 Express

Memloop

I had to google "centenarian". I thought it was a race from Star Trek first.