RE: New RPG programmers

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just wanted to take a swing at this common fallacy.

This is a pretty age-ist statement.  While there are indeed older
programmers who are relaxing in the twilight of their career, that
description by no means fits all your elders.  It's really a matter of
what kind of person you are.  For example, I've been programming almost
as long as you've been alive, Duane, and I have no intention of slowing
down.  On the other hand, I've met plenty of young folks who "stay under
the radar", unwilling to say anything against the latest stupid trend
(like EJB, or extreme programming) for fear of being lynched by zealous
coworkers.  I've met PLENTY of youngsters who have a "comfort zone",
usually with one of the newest technologies.  These are the ones that
can't be bothered to learn RPG because it's not sexy enough.

Me, I am always willing to learn a new language.  I've lost count of how
many languages I've written, much less how many I've programmed in, and
I'm still learning.  Right now my learning language is Python, although
I have precious little free time.

I'm not worried about it, though.  If the coming generations don't learn
RPG, that doesn't mean RPG will go away.  Be serious.  There are
BILLIONS of lines of RPG out there that aren't going to be rewritten or
replaced any time soon.  So instead, it will mean that my RPG abilities
(especially when coupled with my Java, HTML and JavaScript capabilities;
not to mention the fact that I can design a database) will make me one
valuable commodity.

Anyway, not picking on you personally, Duane.  You're not the first
person who has suggested that older programmers are "coasting".  Me, I
think older programmers tend to have a wealth of common sense that is
sorely lacking in some of the newer fads.  In fact, I prefer working
with someone who as at least once in their lifetime actually written in
assembly language and/or written software that worked at the chip level.


Joe


> From: Duane Kehoe
> 
> Further, most people who are in the later 1/3 to 1/4 of their
> career simply want to get through so to speak.  They have already
fought
> their battles and waged their wars why should they risk it now?  Do a
> good job, stay under the radar, do not rock the boat, and retire.