I retired a couple of years ago (66 yo now). I have employed programmers most of my life and found (in these years) that very few programmers are good. Nowadays, with the internet, it has gotten worse. I would say that 1 of 1000 IS a programmer. Every code I have seen in the recent years is sloppy, badly written, uncommented, and, too often, open to bugs hard to find. I am still programming, but for me only. I program for the web (my own websites) and "desktop applications" (Tronics, a CAD system for electronic design and PCB).
As to getting a job in programming, at 30, 40, 50 or even 60 will be very hard, unless you can PROVE real efficiency and/or experience. As to get a decent salary, well... 20 years as a commercial pilot must get you the P1 seat, and a very decent salary: you will NOT get that in the programming industry, simply because, as Ratchetr said, the competition is a cut throat.
As to WHAT to program, this is another matter...
The web is a waste of time: too much competition from "emerging economies", who offer full e-commerce sites for a couple of hundreds, and would write you a Facebook for $1000... :-(
The web for mobiles is in full swing, but getting there is a challenge: you need to learn as many languages as there are mobile types! There again, income is limited in an overcrowded market populated by incompetent hopefuls...
Remain programming for OTHER things: programming "complex applications" or industrial machines/robotics: that field is widely open and requires few languages, such as C, C++, and the market STILL has room for good developers. I was a "machine designer" in UK for 15 years (that's why I had programmers working for me). We designed and built production lines, all automated: a LOT of small but efficient programming.
Since you are in aviation, I would suggest to look at that field: you could "program" autopilots, or simulators, or anything related to aviation. You could start developing a desktop flight simulator, with the correct images and controls. A kind of game, but a serious step forward.
I am sure that, in avionics, good programmers with flying expertise are very rare: that would be your niche, and there, there would be some hard cash!
But "don't quit your day job", keep flying. You can learn from home, in your spare time, or some distance learning classes. Take your time... (Get a lap-top in the P1 seat on long-hauls, let the AP do the work at 35000 feet... and program!)
Good luck.
That's a really tough question, and there is no way I can give you a yes or no answer.
I'm 8 years older than you. I took 10 years off between high school and college. I didn't do anything terribly productive in those 10 years. Then I got hooked on computers and went back to school and got a CS degree. I didn't have any trouble getting the first job, and after that it was easy. But I was pushing 30, not 50, and that was 20+ years ago. Things have changed a bit.
The demand for programmers has certainly skyrocketed in that time. The internet happened. Smart phones happened. Denver Airport happened ;-)
Outsourcing also happened. It's a global competitive market now. Outsourcing comes with a whole host of problems, but low wages is appealing to management folks who think programmers are just interchangeable assembly line workers.
There is definitely age discrimination in this industry. Your brother-in-law is at least partially right. The way I've gotten around that, and the way I've seen others my age get around that, is to use the experience trump card. Or to have carved a niche that no youngster wants to steal away. Experience has value. Some companies recognize that, some don't. But as a relative newbie, you can't really play that trump card.
Hum...but.... you seem like you might have that one key ingredient that distinguishes the good programmers (which are really hard to find) from the rest of the so called programmers...Borderline obsession? Passion for writing code? Is that you?
The one path I wouldn't go down is the 'I wanna write a website' path. Every 14 year old in china and India already knows how to hack together a webesite using PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. They mostly suck at it, but they work for cheap. Believe it or not, there are actually people who make a living writing code that has nothing to do with the Internet (or smartphone apps). Don't follow the crowd.
Let me ask you this: You spent 20 years as a commercial pilot. Was flying something you were passionate about? Or was it just a boring day job? Do you have the same passion (or lack thereof) for programming?
I ask that because there is an obvious overlap between programming aviation. When was the last time you flew a plane without a computer? When was the last time somebody got on that plane without a computer being involved? Ever used a flight simulator that wasn't even connected to the Internet? Did you get the joke when I said 'Denver Airport'? (PLZ don't tell me that you are a commercial crop duster from Iowa...that would ruin the next point ;-)
Programmers are cheap today. People with domain knowledge about the code they are writing are hard to come by. Programmers need to know how the real world works, and often times they don't.
IF you have the passion for it, and IF you can overcome the age discrimination, and IF you can leverage your domain knowledge, THEN you might have a chance. Lots of IFs. But not impossible.
Best Of Luck,
R
There's no harm in trying but you should be prepared with competition particularly against younger coders and even those who are experienced in their field.
Think it through before deciding. Read this, http://bitly.com/TxWTRi .
Yes, you could.
http://blog.zenput.com/6-steps-to-becomi...
http://www.pubinfotech.com/2014/01/top-1...
http://www.infocobuild.com/education/aud...
Ratchetr, is a worthless loser of life
I've been a commercial pilot for 20 years but I've found that, in my off time, I really like writing code. I've taken some introductory online courses and I seem to have developed a knack for it as well. My brother-in-law is a PM at Oracle and he says forget it... it's a young person's industry with people half my age being way ahead of me in education and experience. Maybe, but he's Mr. Stanford pretty shoes...I wouldn't aim to work for a Fortune 100 company in Silicon Valley or a premier slot at Google or Microsoft... of course I'd get passed up by younger talent. But it seems like there's a huge demand for developers everywhere, not just at the companies that hound career expos at Ivy League schools.
So if I went back to school (assuming at a minimum I'd need a CS degree) and did nothing but breath coding for the next 3-4 years, I'd be 48. In those 3 years I would contribute to as many projects as I could to develop "experience". Is there somewhere that might hire me? If doubtful, it's no big deal... I'd stay in aviation. No pats on the back...just honest opinions please :D
