The issue is that I've been hearing that phrase at every interview from every candidate, on a lot of blogposts and presentations. It's a cheap and uncreative way to get under someone's skin.
I suspect you’ve been hearing it a lot because more and more people are starting code while very young.
I’m certainly not the best coder in the world, but I was “coding” in Logo (for example) from a very young age. Lots of kids are interested in computers and the barrier to entry is pretty low.
Yeah, but they are not 40 years old interviewing and writing blogposts now. anyway, it's a lame thing to say, as nobody cares when you started "coding". what do you want to achieve by saying that phrase?
Huh? There were computers with built-in BASIC around 40 years ago, like Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TRS-80, and more, I'm sure. There were magazines with program listings you could type in. Or do you think that labeling kids noodling around with BASIC as "developers" is too tongue-in-cheek?
You must be trolling or an idiot. When did I say that there weren't any computers 40 years ago? I just said that a lot of programmers brag about coding since they were X years old. They're trying to prove something. The amount of times I heard it makes me think that coding in the 80s was more popular than football.
This is accurate, and a sign of the times. My 7yo enjoys programming Lego Mindstorms, and my brother was messing around with redstone circuitry in Minecraft by 8. The barrier of exposure to engineering concepts keeps getting lower.
Well, you did put coding in quotes yourself. 6 year olds are not developers, saying otherwise is insincere and gives off a bad vibe right from the start.