> Most of the good coders I know have been doing it from a young age,
As someone who started programming when I was 21, I sometimes feel like I don't stand a chance.
As someone who started programming when I was 21, I sometimes feel like I don't stand a chance.
I'd argue if you're willing to embrace a complex new skill in adulthood, you're probably going to be more willing to learn new stuff as your career progresses. This will give you an edge when your peers start getting set in their ways.
Another thing: I learned to code when I was 13, and was fortunate enough to have some friends in grades 7-12 who did the same, but ultimately the stuff we did was simplistic and hacky. It was totally undisciplined, and wasn't exactly production quality stuff. We were juvenile, and our code was juvenile. In a good way.
And in reality years of coding doesn't matter. Learning to code early doesn't matter. What matters is with how many people you've collaborated. And how many releases of different products you've shipped.
You can code you whole life, but if it is the same damn piece of code, you wouldn't learn a thing. And if you don't actually release stuff, you also wouldn't learn a thing.
Last point (releasing stuff) is very important. If a kid 'learns' to code, but doesn't release his stuff - it is not real. Most of that learning is far from reality and wasted.
But that's fine. Use your cross-functional skills to your advantage... whatever you did from ages 8-21 when combined with the coding you did from 21-present is likely just as (if not more) valuable than the skills a person who's been coding since childhood.
It all comes down to your ability for self inflection, a strong desire to always be better and, of course, a love of programming.
If you have the same passion, then starting late shouldn't hold you back that much.
Having said that, I am one of the lucky ones who started young.
I enjoyed the lax pace of doing it over ages 5 to 28 though.