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Comment by xauronx | Hacker News Reader

I'm 29 and slowly being pushed into a management position. I'm about 25% code (mostly R&D) and 75% management. I feel like only just hit my peak in coding knowledge and quality. It's such a shame to take someone away from code right as they begin to produce their best stuff. It's just that I can't exactly walk away from the opportunity and money, so I have to go along with it and hope my side projects keep my sanity.

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I'm 49 and I feel like I only just hit my peak in coding knowledge and quality. I suspect I will feel the same when I'm 59 ;-)

But I have a question. Why can't you exactly walk away from the opportunity and money? I have exactly walked away from it and was better off for it. Not everyone will be, no doubt, but the fact that I exist means that it is possible ;-)

I'm near 60 and the code I wrote 5 years ago is crap. 5 years ago I thought the code I wrote 10 years ago is crap. 10 years ago I thought the code I wrote 15 years ago is crap. Etc.

About the only positive thing I can say about code I wrote in my 20s is it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Heh. I knew a variant of this as "if you look at the code you wrote six months ago and don't ask 'who's the idiot who wrote this crap?', you're not learning fast enough" :)

I'm in my 50's and have been coding since the 70's and still feel like my skills have not yet peaked. I learn new stuff every week. I am continually exploring and learning new stuff. There is a _lot_ to this programming stuff if you keep forcing yourself out of your comfort zone and learning new things.

Oh - and I work in a startup.

What about changing the nick rotten to something fresher?

> I'm 49 and I feel like I only just hit my peak in coding knowledge and quality. I suspect I will feel the same when I'm 59 ;-)

This is very comforting to hear! I'm 27 and feel the same way. I can only hope that I keep getting better at this whole thing, and that I can keep ahold of the feeling that I am getting better at it, as you appear to have.

Many organisations push experienced engineers into management roles. Some companies explicitly say they don't want to force this, they don't want to create a ceiling for engineers. But in my experience even those companies still do it, just less consciously. It happens by the design of their function definitions and associated salary ranges. But also by perks and status given to manangement.

How about navigating yourself to an architect-style role? You get to be very hands on, the work is more interesting, and it's "respectable" enough for older dudes like myself.

> I feel like only just hit my peak in coding knowledge and quality.

You will feel the same way in ten years and in twenty. Except by then you'll recognize the pattern. I have seen lots of good programmers (I am not one) and the more experience then accumulated, the better they become.

You can also move to some bigger org. Corporations with sufficiently big code bases are not shy to shell out director level salaries to individual contributors (people without anyone reporting to then), as long as they can have director level impact.

I'm nearly 40 and been programming for nearly 20 years for living and see no way to get out of this. I'd love to be pushed to a management position... Tbh the idea of doing this crap for another 20 years for this low pay check is not very appealing...

And here I am trying to hire developers with over 5 years of experience and struggling to get anyone in the door after over 6 months...

What kind of developer are you looking for (what skills), and where are you located?

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