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Old guys rule

 
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Here's proof.

Now get off my lawn!
 
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My project leader, who is just a scant few years younger than I, makes jokes about assembling a team of grumpy old men (there are 5 of us on the team older than 45). But he knows what we're capable of. Worth putting up with all the creaking and grumbling!




 
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Bear Bibeault wrote:My project leader, who is just a scant few years younger than I, makes jokes about assembling a team of grumpy old men (there are 5 of us on the team older than 45).


For year, I used to argue with my boss that rather than having a team of 20 rookies and two experienced folks, why not do the whole project with five good, experienced folks. She claimed that it was impossible to gather a team of good folks, whereas rookies were easy to find and hire.

Back then, it might have been that there are not a lot of experienced folk to hire. Perhaps you can do it now. I still believe that experience can beat enthusiasm. But then, since I'm old, I may be biased.
 
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Pat Farrell wrote: I still believe that experience can beat enthusiasm


if you[experienced] have enthusiasm
 
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Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote: Here's proof.

Now get off my lawn!



Meh.

I dont deny that older programmers are better. But a comparison of age Vs reputation in stackoverflow does not really make for a good argument. Reputation can often be misleading to the quality of answers a user can provide. Age is also not a variable that is validated by the website.

The awesomeness of some of the older folks I have worked with is beyond words. I have also seen my fair share of pointy haired individuals
 
Bear Bibeault
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But the pointy hairs usually end up as management, or ivory tower architects.
 
Deepak Bala
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Bear Bibeault wrote:But the pointy hairs usually end up as management, or ivory tower architects.



Aint that the truth
 
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In the two mncs i worked, if you have not become a manager or architect within 10 years of your career you will be looked upon differently. People @ 30 mostly move to management - so i never seen them code and can say old guys rule - the smaller ones and not the deliverable (or simply the code)
 
Pat Farrell
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John Jai wrote:In the two mncs i worked, if you have not become a manager or architect within 10 years of your career you will be looked upon differently. People @ 30 mostly move to management


MNCS: Massively Nutty Clown School?

You are talking about the Peter Principal. People get promoted to their level of incompetence. A great programmer becomes a manager, say team leader. If she is a great team leader, she gets promoted to group leader. If she is terrible at that level, she keeps that position for the rest of her career.

We old guys are not talking about that. We are talking about folks who have 30+ years of serious hard core development and design chops. Three or four of them can out-produce a team of 30 rookies. IMHO, YMMV, etc.
 
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Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote: Here's proof.


Regarding the featured T-Shirt: isn't it interesting how such garments are generally shown off by a member of the sex that is unlikely to wear it?
 
Ernest Friedman-Hill
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Ulf Dittmer wrote:

Ernest Friedman-Hill wrote: Here's proof.


Regarding the featured T-Shirt: isn't it interesting how such garments are generally shown off by a member of the sex that is unlikely to wear it?



The article shows that older programmers are better programmers, not that they're better looking. No offense to Pat, but I'm pretty sure I prefer the model in the article
 
Bear Bibeault
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They should have had some fantastic looking older guy like me showing off the shirt! Nothing shows off a t-shirt better than an ample gut.

 
Ernest Friedman-Hill
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Bear Bibeault wrote: Nothing shows off a t-shirt better than an ample gut.



Well, there's room for more words. Also, a bigger font, which is good for my presbyopia.
 
Don't get me started about those stupid light bulbs.
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