I started programming when I was 11. Taught myself C++ from that age. Solved tons of tough problems in personal and school projects before going into industry at age 22.

Now at 35, I definitely think it's time to move on. I won't lie about my lack of interest in the field. The problems are less difficult to solve, but also much more frustrating. A lot more black boxes that you can't reverse engineer when you get stuck. Working with other people in a big company means things move far slower than my ability to get things done.

Plus the proliferation of different tech stacks means that despite the big job market, most of the new jobs require specific knowledge that I don't have, and my existing experience with low level coding and problem solving don't carry much weight.