Can an Old Programmer Learn New Tricks

I decided here at the beginning of 2023 to return to the software industry I had worked at for 25 years between 1985 and 2010. That’s a 13 year career gap. Is it practical to get back into the industry after such a long time and at age 58? <h2>Obstacles to Re-entering the Software Industry</h2> Two issues had kept me from attempting this return to the software indsutry earlier: <ol> <li>Obsolescence of technical skills</li> <li>Potential age discrimination</li> </ol> I left in 2010 with skills in C++, SQL databases, and intimate knowledge of Windows desktop application development in MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes). MFC, C++, and desktop application development were already aging technologies by 2010. I had stayed too long at my last company: it never quite succeeded and never quite went out of business. I didn’t have skills that were highly in demand at that point; although, we had a small web based section of our product line that taught me some C#, HTML, and CSS, but I wasn’t yet confident in web development. So I made the leap into the real estate industry (that’s a long story for another article). Regarding age discrimination — discriminating against old job applicants — I had engaged in this myself at a young age. When interviewing an older applicant — and these were maybe in their 40’s — I would wonder, why does this guy want this job?, what went wrong with his career?, what’s wrong with him? We invariably chose a young applicant. Each team member ruled out the old ones independently. <a href="https://medium.com/@bobofbellevue/can-an-old-programmer-learn-new-tricks-b2826f87faf3">Visit Now</a>