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by scarface_74 770 days ago
Welcome to technology.

Yes, I too wish I could make a living programming in 65C02 assembly on my Apple //e like I did in 1986.

I also don’t see any reason I have to learn about S3 instead of storing all of my files on an on prem CDRW jukebox

1 comments

No, it's not inevitable. There are many technologies that will outlast my whole career: java, sql, tcp/ip, linux, to name a few.

S3 will also certainly be around in 20 years.

That’s true. But when I was first learning Java, Java beans and Java Server Pages were the hotness. The last time I did production code in Java was writing Android apps that required knowing the Android SDK.

Programming in Java in 2024 is nothing like it was in the 1990s when it was first embedded in Netscape Navigator - yeah I played around with it back then.

When I was first using C and C++, I was writing Windows apps with MFC in 1999. Good luck if that’s all you know in 2024z

I’ve been at this awhile. I started writing C and Fortran apps on DEC Vax and Stratus VOS mainframes in 1996z

My second job was part development and part managing Windows servers on prem running IIS and Classic ASP.

I got my first, only, and hopefully last job at BigTech in the cloud consulting department at 46 (full time role) consulting companies on all of the latest “serverless” goodness.

Either evolve or end up complaining on HN about “ageism”. When I got Amazoned at 49 last year, it took all of three weeks to have multiple offers. I’ll put my buzzword compliance against anyone of any age in my niches.

While “tcp/ip” will be around as will assembly language. I’ve programmed in assembly language on five different architectures either professionally or as hobby. I haven’t touched it since 2008. Jobs are at a higher level of abstraction these days.

100%, technology evolves, sometimes to a dead end but it keeps moving and it's an interesting, frustrating and fun ride.