I started learning to code in my mid-30's and am now in my mid-40's working as a developer. "Leave the 9 to 5 Job" is not accurate. Most people that follow the path described in the article will still be working regular business hours (frequently longer than 9 to 5 to be honest) sitting at a desk in an office setting, only now they will be writing code for a living.
Coding requires quite a bit of physical effort as well. Have you noticed your age getting in the way of it? I'm in my late twenties and have been coding since I was 15. I've developed quite a few chronic issues - both skeletal and gastrointestinal.
I've found that happens when you don't get enough physical efforts in your life. Sitting and coding is not good for you. You have to get up and move around.
Not that I want to presume -- you may very well have some specific conditions outside of the norm... but as a general rule, coding requires you to take additional preventive actions to maintain your health. Because if you let it, coding will trash you.
It is unlikely your problems are from coding itself. It might be bad luck or genetics. It might be healthy lifestyle. I assure you that you can code and have healthy livestyle - exercise, sleep, food and even part of life where you don't code. If you want to code long term, you need them.
You however need to value them and not to buy into the "real programmers code whole night and eat only pizza and never exercise" bullshit.
> I've developed quite a few chronic issues - both skeletal and gastrointestinal.
Curious, not trolling. What kind of gastrointestinal issues does one develop from programming / sitting in 1 place? Is it from the cliched "coder diet" - pizza and soda, or is it from the physical aspects - sitting and staring at screen for long hours - and not related to diet, that cause gastrointestinal issues?
I think the lack of exercise made things worse. But I developed IBS from the stress of frequent live-site and odd hours (and of course a bad diet). I've since moved on to a different team and company but the damage has been done. I'm on a very strict diet these days.
Also, bad posture over the years has led to cervical stenosis & herniation. I cannot sit for more than 30mins without developing pain in my shoulder and neck.
In general, I think being if you're an engineer working on services, it is hard to maintain a proper schedule and routine. Add to that strict deadlines, pressure from management, bugs etc and things get worse. It is still a pretty subjective argument though.
I think it's more the lifestyle that coding can lead to, right? e.g. if coding leads to a lifestyle of poor exercise, sleep quality and diet, or a combination of all of those, then that can obviously lead to conditions you've mentioned above.
(note – not trying to diagnose your symptoms, just responding to your comment about coding being physically tolling!)
Not at all. Being a developer does not automatically give you better odds at business. These are two very different skillsets.
Creating a little/niche SAAS takes more than writing code. Most business failures from developers that Ive personally talked to is due to not understating how to market and sell. They thought they could hack it and automate it. This part is still very people centric even if you are not constantly interacting with them.
I dont aim to sound mean but this is akin to thinking that every mechanic out there can be be a successful repair garage owner. Different skills. Its very hard and uncommon to have both technical and business skills. Why do you think YC puts so much money into finding people with both?
I see your point and agree with it wholeheartedly, however I think you're responding to something that Scarbutt (what a name) didn't actually say. Namely, that being a developer guarantees you business success.
It certainly doesn't. But it's still tremendously advantageous.
And just as programming can be learned, so too can those business skills. It just requires some combination of reading, mentorship, time, practice, and experience. And that's really the whole point behind the interviews on Indie Hackers, and the community forum as well. To help people learn those skills.
This is why Ive supported IH from the very beginning. Its a great resource.
Your comment made me realize that mine came out a bit negative. I certainly agree that business skills may be studied and developed as any others. Maybe Im a little burned out from talking with people who just want a 5 minute solution to a 5 year problem.
I also run a little podcast[0] to help people learn and develop those skills. Its new and very rough around the edges, but the last episode will resonate a lot with software developers who decided to dip their toes on the business end of the pool. :)
Took a development job mid-30s (this year) after being a senior engineer but without any coding. It's been very difficult to be essentially a junior, while everyone's expectations are that you are far higher.
Enjoyable in a lot of respects though, the biggest issues are all around expectations. I think I'm doing better than I have any right to be doing, but am far worse than any peer. Dealing with that dance is difficult.
While there's probably some truth to that, other folks who seem to have the answers are probably faking it more than you realize. The big difference is that you're hyper aware of your predicament and more likely to identify gaps in what you "should" know.
It's not the 3-months bootcamp that is supposed to make you a developer and promises you will get a job.
I wanted to create an alternative space, where you can move to the next level in a very specific framework quickly, make friends with like-minded developers and enjoy the experience.
Does anyone trust the data coming directly from bootcamps? Even if the data they present is technically accurate it's so easy to cherry pick or game the numbers that I would never be able to recommend bootcamps to people looking to make such a drastic transition in their lives.
I am self-taught. Spent at least 2 hours a day learning everyday in my mid 20's. I think it is critical to find an experienced dev or engineer to be a code mentor and to be disciplined and give yourself realistic challenges and goals.
Doing it the way I did saved me probably 10-15k and an expensive move. It may seem like an awesome idea to join a bootcamp, but just remember that you may be able to create an even better (and cheaper) environment for yourself with a little dedication and creativity.
An aside: it really scares me how camps tout Backbone and React like they are the only frameworks you will ever need to know to be employable. It is way more important to figure out how you learn, so you can keep pace with changes when they come, because they always do. Just my experiences, and I would certainly never look down on anyone who did attend a bootcamp. Different strokes, as they say.
There is a nascent organization called the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting [0] that some bootcamps / code schools belong to. This is probably the best resource for such data. I think Flatiron School's jobs reports [1] come closest to setting a good example. No affiliation, just researching schools.
[0] http://cirr.org
[1] https://flatironschool.com/outcomes
A novice programmer who has never programmed professionally themselves charging £1500 to train slightly-more-novice programmers? This isn't a tech startup or SaaS - it's a scam.
I am not sure if you can call my instructors novice:
Gerard Sans (Google Delveloper Expert), Chris Sevilleja (founder of scotch.io), Max Stoiber (creator of react-boiler plate and styled-components), Nik Graf (Draft.js plugins and polished) and many others. These guys are top trainers -> https://www.codecamps.com/trainers
Coding is a 9-5 job. If you do it independently it's a 24hr. job. Platforms and "standards" constantly changing. That whole space is fragmented and "nitchy" you have to hustle to keep up. Especially if you want to be cutting edge. U can always go work for a large co. but then that's just a 9-5. I guess this applies to a lot of things, but this can slow down your progress. Good luck!
If I’ve ever seen a clickbait title, then this is it.
I’ve been coding for 25years. Trust me, learning coding after 40 is not going to give you financial freedom or chance to build your own business it SaaS it whatever. The best it can do is give you a 10-6 job, since programmers have usually more flexible hours.
All these stories from indie hackers are like stories from people who won the lottery. Yes, there are people who made it, but for each one of them there are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands who failed miserably.
Or maybe it’s just sour grapes from my side. But that’s how I see it.
"All these stories from indie hackers are like stories from people who won the lottery."
I think it would be more of a spectrum, considering success isn't necessarily "won". It's a confluence of controllable and uncontrollable factors.
The results of which represent a spectrum of value (output) and input (factors).
Age is merely one of the factors involved in human productivity, and not necessarily the most important (the equation of coefficients affecting each factor would change over time of course).
Well, that's not really the author's advice, considering that he writes:
"I wouldn't recommend quitting your job like I did. Especially, if you have an idea only. Test it first. Most probably, you have a lot of 'hidden' free time so you can test it while keeping your day job."
If your point is that bootcamps generally are waste of time and money, and you suspect that the author just wants to promote his bootcamp, then that's a different thing of course.