Is software development really a dead-end job after 35-40?

a good quote from the article: "The way to avoid the same fate as the previous generation’s industrial workers is to continue to learn, grow, and gain skills that are valuable beyond the very particular skill you have now."

I am in my 60s, and while I still work on interesting projects as they come my way, the majority of my "tech time" is now spent studying and learning new things or doing deeper study of older technology. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have the financial resources and time to do this! I used to use neural networks in the 1980s for projects for SAIC and DARPA and in the last few years (like millions of other people) I have become very interested in deep learning, especially as it applies to natural language processing. This is a practical thing to study. Less practical: I am taking a deeper dive into Common Lisp and Scheme (I wrote books on each language for Springer-Verlag decades ago) studying not just practical applications but also getting deeper into both languages. This is not so beneficial financially but is a lot of fun.

This seems like a very odd answer to the question since the undertone to this question is whether you will be discriminated against based on your age when you start becoming visibly old.

While nothing written here is untrue, isn't its premise kind of self evident? Whether you're 22 or 52 the key to staying relevant in this line of work is to never stop growing and learning.

I just turned 40. Definitely not dead end for me. However:

* I look quite young for my age (most put me closer to 25)

* I work in a small company. I'm an employee, but my role is closer to being entrepreneurial. I have significant flexibility in our stack, tools, etc.

* I have no kids and rent my home.

Almost every job becomes a dead end if you don't pursue management by age 40 as there typically isn't anything more senior to aspire to after 10-20 years.

It would be interesting to have some statistical data on this question.

There are plenty of anecdotal information either way: I'm 45 and doing quite well as a software developer. So, no, not a dead-end job for me. On the other hand, I see less and less software developers my age or older in my company and others around.

So while I'm sure you will get a lot of anecdotal data in the comments, it would be great to get some actual statistically relevant data. Does anyone know any good source for this type of data?

If you believe it is, then it will be for you.

The day my "job" as a programmer disappear I will take my stuff and expend my time fishing all day in Alaska... Actuality, I'm looking very much forward to that.. :)

Perhaps the question should be taking more literally. How many burned out software developers end up committing suicide relative to averages?

Empty article. Adds nothing to universal happyness

nope..

Being someone else's employee is a dead-end job after 35-40. It has nothing to do with software development. The easiest way to counter that, is to at least engage in subcontracting. But then again, the whole idea of selling your hours to someone else is in itself a long-term dead-end strategy. Instead, build a platform and sell something else than your own hours on it. That is what your employer is doing anyway. So, why not do it yourself too?