are u going to b programming at an advanced age?
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there are some occupations where age is what matters not what u know
i'd like to think I.T isnt so but i think that would be wishful thinking based on what i see.
e.g
u can find a 60 year old judge,lawyer,accountant,lecturer,
landlord ,business man.
but u can't find a 50 year old web designer-not in nigeria i mean.
at that age --- it would even be repulsive to contractors .
and i think same thing goes for programmers . so
what happens to those who would still love to programme at such ages.
like i read on the net- in other countries the age bias isnt so strong
i've read of successful programmers who still love to code 30 years after they've been programming professionally.
i read of a 60+ year old game designer on wikipedia. and they may b many more whose names havent made the limelight.
i read on yahoo of man who graduated from high school at the age of 91
i'v read of grand mother's i mean - age 70+ graduating from college
but i don't think in nigeria that 91 year old man would fulfill his ambition cuz - he'd be "too old or too big" to go sit down with " juniors in class " and so he'd prefer to die an illiterate!!!

Actually i think this society has a way of retiring one by trying to tell you how u should behave.

The reason we don't have 70 year old web developers is simple: the web is barely 20 years old!

I'm going to be coding as long as I am alive, for sure. Even if it means using Python exclusively.

Thank God Seun replied to this one .
For me, weither they like it or not, it programing forever.

Seun:

The reason we don't have 70 year old web developers is simple: the web is barely 20 years old!

That is not the reason. You can definitely find web developers of advanced ages in the US for instance. They sometimes have a history of programming, but most I've found don't, and have gone through several different careers before settling for software development (which mostly explains why they are still in the development tier, and not managerial tier, as they have fewer years of experience in the field than their age mates). If you've had a long history in software development, you usually get promoted out of the development level to the managerial level. But a few don't like the managerial level, and stick to development.

logica:

That is not the reason. You can definitely find web developers of advanced ages in the US for instance. They sometimes have a history of programming, but most I've found don't, and have gone through several different careers before settling for software development (which mostly explains why they are still in the development tier, and not managerial tier, as they have fewer years of experience in the field than their age mates). If you've had a long history in software development, you usually get promoted out of the development level to the managerial level. But a few don't like the managerial level, and stick to development.

Makes no sense.  You're saying many contradictory things in your desperate bid to disagree.  Na wa.

logica:

That is not the reason.

What is your reason (why there are very few old web devs?)

I used to be a software developer and loved every bit of the experience. However, I realized that I wouldn't want to continue in that line of trade for long. I thought I was alone in this state of mind until I met some other people who are leaving programming for administrative positions e.g. Network Admin, System Admin and Database Admin. I admit that programming is a habit that's difficult to shake off. I still write a few lines of codes here and there every week. I even still learn new languages! However, I don't see myself doing it full time as a profession.

Seun:

Makes no sense.  You're saying many contradictory things in your desperate bid to disagree.  Na wa.
What is your reason (why there are very few old web devs?)

It makes no sense that you cannot point out the contradictions (you probably don't know the meaning of that). And what do I have to gain by disagreeing with you? Maybe you need lessons in reading and comprehension; otherwise you wouldn't be asking me for an answer I already provided.

In any case, I'll give you a clue: the reason is the same you will not find many old accountants (even though the profession dates back several centuries), but you will find them as Accounts Managers and owners of Accounting firms.

As you grow in the programming profession, you find yourself doing less coding and more administrative work. This is irrespective of weather you are a business owner or an employee. Those who stick to programming still code less. They do things like architecture design, team management and mentoring more than actual coding. But they never lose their skills. I think at some point, programming becomes part of you and you find yourself doing more with less code and learning new things without making much effort.

Let me put it this way, as you grow in the programming profession, you graduate from a foot soldier to a horse riding commander.

Abi o. To think that because web development is just 20 years old, therefore all those working on web development are young is simply ridiculous.

Web development is still a subset of software development, and therefore project management for web applications still followed the same strategies that have been used in developing applications since the 60s. Therefore you would expect the early project managers were advanced in age, and some of course had to quickly pick up on web app development.

This apart from the fact that some people in advanced ages simply picked up web app development either as a hobby or full/part-time job (at least in the US where there is no age discrimination - you will not find clauses such as "candidate should not be older than 26 years old" in a job advert, as the advertiser will be inviting a class action lawsuit).

IG:

As you grow in the programming profession, you find yourself doing less coding and more administrative work. This is irrespective of weather you are a business owner or an employee. Those who stick to programming still code less. They do things like architecture design, team management and mentoring more than actual coding. But they never lose their skills. I think at some point, programming becomes part of you and you find yourself doing more with less code and learning new things without making much effort.

Let me put it this way, as you grow in the programming profession, you graduate from a foot soldier to a horse riding commander.

Couldn't agree more ,

I don't write as much code as i used to(not even close) but programming only seems to get easier, it seems concepts that have been conquered before remain easy. I sometimes feel like a cheat when younger/less experienced coders get stuck, and i just give them a few tips and everything is running again.
I guess its true, you can't buy experience   (at least not cheaply)

IG:

As you grow in the programming profession, you find yourself doing less coding and more administrative work. This is irrespective of weather you are a business owner or an employee. Those who stick to programming still code less. They do things like architecture design, team management and mentoring more than actual coding. But they never lose their skills. I think at some point, programming becomes part of you and you find yourself doing more with less code and learning new things without making much effort.

Let me put it this way, as you grow in the programming profession, you graduate from a foot soldier to a horse riding commander.

so true . .

experience is king

logica:

It makes no sense that you cannot point out the contradictions (you probably don't know the meaning of that). And what do I have to gain by disagreeing with you? Maybe you need lessons in reading and comprehension; otherwise you wouldn't be asking me for an answer I already provided.

In any case, I'll give you a clue: the reason is the same you will not find many old accountants (even though the profession dates back several centuries), but you will find them as Accounts Managers and owners of Accounting firms.

My guess is that you are going to use this to justify your running away from a profession that has paid you back little for your effort. No one runs away from something that gives them so much joy and happiness unless they are incompetent or lazy. I am sure zuckerberg will still dive in once in a while even though he doesnt have to.