[scarface74]

Say I wanted to be a modern web developer and that I spent 10 years maintaining an old ASP.Net WebForms app. Would it be “discrimination” if I had to spend a year learning the modern $cool_kids stack to be competitive with younger developers who may have learned everything in a boot camp?

Was it “discrimination” that I had to spend six months to be competitive in 2008 after being at the same company for a decade writing VB6 apps and writing programs in C++ with MFC/DCOM?

What about the six months in 1999 I spent playing around with C++/MFC because I spent the first three years of my career writing C and FORTRAN on DEC VAX and Stratus VOS mainframes?

If you want to stay an active software developer you have to always be learning to stay competitive.

[notacoward]

No, those don't sound like discrimination. Discrimination would be if you spent that year learning the material then went into the interview and they gave you a problem that was utterly irrelevant but more familiar to those bootcamp kids. Or if they gave you a relevant problem and you solved it fine using an obvious-seeming algorithm you learned ten years ago, then got "corrected" because everyone uses a different algorithm nowadays. Maybe even an algorithm that's objectively worse for that particular case, but arguing the point would only cost you more points. Those are things I've seen happen.

As I suspect you know, discrimination rarely declares itself. It's usually subtle, sometimes even unconscious, but often it's still there. "I didn't care so I didn't try so I have no direct experience" is not a good argument for dismissing others' choices as inferior or their experiences as insignificant.

[scarface74]

Discrimination would be if you spent that year learning the material then went into the interview and they gave you a problem that was utterly irrelevant but more familiar to those bootcamp kids.

The modern $cool_kids framework would be more familiar to those boot camp kids than it would have been to that hypothetical guy who spent years doing WebForms. Every time I’ve interviewed since 2009 I’ve had to prepare myself beforehand for the types of interviews required for the type of job I wanted. I’m sure half the developers on this board have been targeted by one of the Big tech companies. Everyone knows what to expect at the interviews. The recruiters basically tell you. If I wanted to do the stereotypical r/cscareerquestions “work for a Big N”, I know just how to prepare for it. I have no reason to believe that if I prepared that I wouldn’t be just as competitive. In fact, I would be just as insulted if they gave me a different easier process because of my age because they thought I couldn’t handle a whiteboard interview as I would be if they gave me a different process because of my color if I’m applying for the same job.

Maybe even an algorithm that's objectively worse for that particular case, but arguing the point would only cost you more points. Those are things I've seen happen.

This is life. To paraphrase Buffett, the interview process can stay irrational much longer than I can stay solvent. If you’re an older developer, you should have the wisdom to know which battles you should fight and when you should just play along to reach the ends you want.

As I suspect you know, discrimination rarely declares itself. It's usually subtle, sometimes even unconscious, but it's still there. When evaluating such claims, it's helpful to look at what actually happens to others instead of projecting our own personal experience onto them.

He never said that he studied hard and thought that he was well prepared for the type of interview that he knew they were going to give but hired someone that wasn’t as prepared. If he doesn’t have time to prepare for the interview because of family obligations, that’s no more “discrimination” than me not being able to accept consulting gigs right now because I don’t want to be on the road right now because of family obligations.