--- title: Should software developers quit after 40? | daily.dev description: As software developers age, there are misconceptions about their place in the industry. Over 40, the author emphasizes that it's important to stay updated with... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/should-software-developers-quit-after-40--8yo6egdea twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Should software developers quit after 40? | daily.dev og:description: As software developers age, there are misconceptions about their place in the industry. Over 40, the author emphasizes that it's important to stay updated with... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/should-software-developers-quit-after-40--8yo6egdea og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/8YO6eGDeA.png og:image:alt: Should software developers quit after 40? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Should software developers quit after 40? **[Community Picks](https://daily.dev/sources/community)** · 6 min read · 59 upvotes · 36 comments ## Summary As software developers age, there are misconceptions about their place in the industry. Over 40, the author emphasizes that it's important to stay updated with evolving technologies, be open to new tools, and maintain a healthy lifestyle to combat natural cognitive decline. They encourage exploring new programming languages and varied projects to stay relevant and effective. AI tools and continuous learning play a key role in enhancing skills and productivity. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@perrycodes** · 52 upvotes > Been writing code since I was 10 years old. Writing the best code of my life at 50 and I'll continue doing this until my fingers can't type anymore - at which point it will be time to check out of this hotel. Perhaps by then, someone will have developed a "Dragon Dictate" that doesn't suck horribly 8^) **@jamiecarl** · 22 upvotes > Sure, I could have quit at 40 and just taken all my experience with me. > > What a dumb premise for a VLOG. **@ghost** · 14 upvotes > Back in the day (insert old man voice here), I was coding games on my Commodore VIC-20, saving data on a trusty tape deck. Back then, we only had ones and zeros – and half the time, we didn’t even have zeros! So count your blessings, you young’uns. > > Fast forward to now – I’m in my late 50s, fluent in over 20 programming languages, and still smashing out code 12 hours a day. According to my son, I’ve got “God-Tier Coding Mad Skillz.” Honestly, half the stuff he says sounds like it needs its own instruction manual, but hey, I’ll take the compliment. > > I’ll keep coding until the day I’m pushing... **@tdlm** · 11 upvotes > Answer: No. **@tanguychenier** · 11 upvotes > It's hard to truly be a great developer with less than 10 to 15 years of experience. > > Between mastering various patterns, languages, etc., and what actually makes a developer great—introspection, the ability to evolve, etc.—considering the average starting age for developers entering the job market is between 25 and 30, it means that one might only truly excel after their 40s. This could explain a potential gap in the market: a lack of genuinely senior developers. > > Even with the rise of AI, which accelerates learning by eliminating the downtime of waiting for answers or spending hours stuck... --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/should-software-developers-quit-after-40--8yo6egdea) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Should software developers quit after 40?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-software-developers-quit-after-40--8yo6egdea","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-software-developers-quit-after-40--8yo6egdea"},"datePublished":"2024-12-06T08:42:14.803Z","dateModified":"2024-12-06T08:42:39.813Z","description":"As software developers age, there are misconceptions about their place in the industry. 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Writing the best code of my life at 50 and I’ll continue doing this until my fingers can’t type anymore - at which point it will be time to check out of this hotel. Perhaps by then, someone will have developed a “Dragon Dictate” that doesn’t suck horribly 8^)","datePublished":"2024-12-06T20:34:55.512Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/8YO6eGDeA#c-JR9jwAXpk","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jason Perry","url":"https://daily.dev/perrycodes","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocKfLPEVBUg7kKka6SkBVpsm4yCordjSbm-mHVaZX_ULMODjEBHNaQ=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":52}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Sure, I could have quit at 40 and just taken all my experience with me.\nWhat a dumb premise for a VLOG.","datePublished":"2024-12-09T00:45:16.179Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/8YO6eGDeA#c-pJn6pvijx","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Carl","url":"https://daily.dev/jamiecarl","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--6HKK4uxD--/f_auto/v1774926661/avatars/avatar_k36Xl74b9YwkVH3UdpWWH?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":22}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Back in the day (insert old man voice here), I was coding games on my Commodore VIC-20, saving data on a trusty tape deck. Back then, we only had ones and zeros – and half the time, we didn’t even have zeros! So count your blessings, you young’uns.\nFast forward to now – I’m in my late 50s, fluent in over 20 programming languages, and still smashing out code 12 hours a day. According to my son, I’ve got “God-Tier Coding Mad Skillz.” Honestly, half the stuff he says sounds like it needs its own instruction manual, but hey, I’ll take the compliment.\nI’ll keep coding until the day I’m pushing up daisies. As for those who don’t believe in themselves or think coding isn’t for them? No worries – not everyone has to live and breathe it. But if you’ve got the passion, give it a go. You might just surprise yourself!","datePublished":"2024-12-09T23:56:08.868Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/8YO6eGDeA#c-tEHb3oZG4","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Deleted user","url":"https://daily.dev/ghost","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--hNIUzLiO--/f_auto/v1705327420/public/ghost_vlftth"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":14}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Answer: No.","datePublished":"2024-12-08T08:12:11.782Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/8YO6eGDeA#c-yphJiQdAf","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Scott","url":"https://daily.dev/tdlm","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--E1sPmqCc--/f_auto/v1778693132/avatars/avatar_ClyEYIbsIwrvUhZiWITas?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":11}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"It’s hard to truly be a great developer with less than 10 to 15 years of experience.\nBetween mastering various patterns, languages, etc., and what actually makes a developer great—introspection, the ability to evolve, etc.—considering the average starting age for developers entering the job market is between 25 and 30, it means that one might only truly excel after their 40s. This could explain a potential gap in the market: a lack of genuinely senior developers.\nEven with the rise of AI, which accelerates learning by eliminating the downtime of waiting for answers or spending hours stuck on problems, it doesn’t change the unavoidable truth about the time required to achieve mastery—regardless of intellectual capacity.\nSo, I’d actually argue that 40 is still too young, just to start to seriously working as dev.","datePublished":"2024-12-09T18:37:01.725Z","dateModified":"2024-12-10T14:38:48.702Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/8YO6eGDeA#c-nSzd0fJ7J","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanguy Chénier","url":"https://daily.dev/tanguychenier","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fKapxr1Q--/f_auto/v1762421654/avatars/avatar_5jD4BEpY5q1JxOpZ9atQ0?_a=BAMAK+ZW0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":11}}]} ```