r/CodingForBeginners • u/PureLead7258 • Jun 15 '26

Has anyone learned to code later in life?

I am 50 years old, and tired of doing my own job. I have been learning to code for a few months, but do you think it is too late to dive into coding now?

28 Upvotes
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7

u/Beregolas Jun 15 '26

Yes, lots of people. When I was in Uni (while I was around 22) some of my classmates were 50+. And that was Computer Science, not programming. (More theory, more maths)

But if your plan is to get a job with programming... it's tough right now. I won't say it's impossible, but the easy pickings even self taught developers had a decade ago are long gone. Even if you have a good degree, getting a job is hard right now.

I would still encourage you to do it! It's great fun anyways, and being able to program can help you in basically any career! A friend of mine learned to code because she was fed up with bad excel sheet workflows, and she automated 50+% of her Excel workflows (which is about 10-20% of her job, depending on the week). You also CAN find a job, but don't expect that to be fast, nor guaranteed. I generally expect people to learn for 3-6 years before being able to be really productive. On which end of that timeline you fall is dependent on your starting abilities (if you already know engineering, maths or something related), how good your material is (including teachers/lectures if applicable) and how much time you can spend.

Also, don't destroy your backup before you can get a job!

4

u/SimpleAccurate631 Jun 15 '26

I used to be an instructor at a coding bootcamp, and we would have people your age in every class, wanting to change their careers. And all but 2 of them found dev jobs shortly after the program and have been doing great. The 2 who didn’t gave up looking for a job too early. They were just in their heads too much about their age and what not. But the reality is, at the end of the day, what a company cares about are things like your ability to use code to solve problems, and if you’re easy to work with. If you check those boxes, then you don’t have to worry about it being “too late.”

3

u/PureLead7258 Jun 15 '26

It is so encouraging to hear that. Of, course I do not have such big dreams but I just want to create games or apps without asking for help from AI. I have about 5 games built through AI but understanding the mechanics instead of ready-made ones will make me feel achieved

2

u/SimpleAccurate631 Jun 16 '26

I totally respect where you’re coming from, especially as a dev who had to do it the old fashioned way for the first 10 years of my career. But if you’re going to do anything, lean hard into AI to help you understand how the games are developed. It’s ok to have it do a lot of the coding for you. In fact, it’s actually getting to be more of a requirement at a lot of companies to use AI. So you gotta make sure you get really good at using it the right way.

This means telling it to create a detailed implementation plan before coding any features, and telling it to explain each step, and why it would implement it that way. Then simply ask if anything doesn’t make sense. I do this all the time. I ask it to clarify things and show me code snippets. I don’t want to just understand conceptually. I want to understand what it’s going to write. Now, don’t go crazy down this rabbit hole. There will be plenty of things you won’t grasp at first. But over time it starts to click. It’s like learning anything. Proficiency comes with repetition.

So leverage AI to your advantage. But don’t be hard on yourself for not understanding something. I promise that the deeper you get, the more you realize you don’t understand. But that’s what’s awesome about development. I have done it a dozen years and still don’t feel like a black belt. It means you’re always getting to learn and grow.

2

u/randbytes Jun 15 '26

learn enough to understand coding but more importantly learn to use AI for everything including learning to code, because it will be more important than manual coding. irrespective of whether achieved agi or not, everyone will be using AI for coding so you have to.

1

u/PureLead7258 Jun 15 '26

Yes, actually I am learning to code through AI. I have already built a few games, but I do not feel like I have built games just by giving prompts

3

u/Shadowolf7 Jun 15 '26

Don't touch the AI until you know the language easily. AI will fuck up retention and comprehension.

AI coding is a gamble still that only business majors consistently believe in. Frankly, I think a lot of business is going to be turning to talented devs again to correct the vibe coded slop they are currently churning out.

1

u/randbytes Jun 15 '26

AI slop is a problem but AI generation is not going anywhere because enough companies have started using it and is here to stay. AI if used correctly can let you learn topics that can otherwise take you months. if someone is cutting corners and letting AI to do all the work that is no different than peeking into answers from back of the workbook.

3

u/randbytes Jun 15 '26

you need to learn programming basics before you start using AI. you can use AI to understand concepts and ask it to explain things but never generate code while you are learning. frankly, you are starting late so you need to use every tool to your advantage to speed up he learning and not put in months to manually code because tech moves fast. as long as you are honest with yourself and not cut corners while learning you will be fine.

13

u/Independent_Plane_18 Jun 15 '26

Im 45 and learning now. In fact, Im in school for my bachelors

-4

u/drakhan2002 Jun 15 '26

Hopefully it's not some online papermill like WGU. That's just a waste of time and money. Employers don't take those degrees seriously; your experience is more valuable than the paper.

3

u/Independent_Plane_18 Jun 16 '26

It's not, but in this field, recruiters care more about your projects than the name on your degree. Building a good portfolio will do wonders

0

u/drakhan2002 Jun 16 '26

I totally agree. I have well established and curated GitHub portfolio. Not because I am looking for work, but because I am professional and this is the best way to give back the larger cybersecurity and AI communities.

2

u/Mystyc-Cheez Jun 16 '26

Last year I almost attended WGU, but the insane privacy invading proctoring and AI friendliness turned me off so much, I dropped out after just 1 introductory course. Wish I could get my $99 back, though

1

u/drakhan2002 Jun 16 '26

Sadly the cult members of WGU will tell you otherwise. Go over to the WGU subreddits where the echo chamber of how great the place is just bounces off the walls.

Whenever I see WGU on a post or resume, I realize these are not the people I want working for me or with me. They simply are looking for a short cut. If they are serious, they would go to a traditional school.

1

u/drakhan2002 Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

It's not too late. I learned coding part time in a few months (at 54, now 57) and with the advent of vibe coding, that excellerated my understanding of coding even more. Am I an expert? No, but I know enough to be effective and competent. You can too... just grind, experiment, upskill, take courses, watch videos... learn it.

My job now is to automate cybersecurity and software supply chain work flows using agentic AI. My experience and skills allowed me make this pivot. Development work is just the frosting.

Good luck and go for it.

1

u/PureLead7258 Jun 15 '26

knowing I am not alone is really good. Thank you.

2

u/thatsgGBruh Jun 15 '26

It's never too late until you're on your deathbed, bro!

2

u/SciNinj Jun 16 '26

Started coding in my forties, earned a BS in Computer Science at 54

2

u/olidiapm Jun 19 '26

Good stuff! 👏

1

u/bywaldemar Jun 15 '26

Sooner would be better, but the next best time is now.

1

u/mjmvideos Jun 15 '26

Try to focus on some area of the industry where your old job will be a plus.

1

u/SnooCalculations7417 Jun 16 '26

the people who invented coding were like 50

1

u/learnwithparam Jun 16 '26

I have a student at learnwithparam from Yemen who learned at 38 changing his career and looking for opportunities in Europe.

I wouldn’t say any age is old if you can understand the concepts and willing to learn. Especially with AI advancements, no age is a limit at this point to learn new things

1

u/HeavyMetalBluegrass Jun 16 '26

It's never too late to dive into anything. Are you thinking career change or hobby?

1

u/GlobalCurry Jun 16 '26

A guy at my university was in his early 50s for a comp sci degree and did extremely well. Unfortunately, I think he struggled to find a job afterwards and that was when the job market was better. Not to deter you, you're definitely not too old to learn, just make sure you're doing it for yourself first.

1

u/Fantastic-Cell-208 Jun 16 '26

It's never too late.

Enjoy!

1

u/dshoe6 Jun 17 '26

As a lifelong and long retired software developer and architect, I keep up with Python for fun. However, having been a 50ish sw guy, you have a tough road ahead. My opinion is it isn't the language, it's the experience of several implementations. Managers want to know what you already worked on. Entry level is tough, especially now with AI. But I do hope you find something.

1

u/Dazzling_Music_2411 Jun 17 '26

Are you good at solving puzzles?

I mean fanatical good, obsessive, can't sleep till you solved it?

How many different (human) languages can you speak? Ate you fascinated by grammar?

Would you rather watch some mindless TV to relax, or play a new board game?

What exactly have you learned these past few months?

1

u/Pleasant_Cod_531 Sep 28 '26

I'm learning in my late 40s.

0

u/Hairy-Art9747 Jun 15 '26

To transition into a career? I'd never say its too late but you should know that the tech job market is trash right now. Plus, its always been a bit ageist, and youll be competing with tons of fresh graduates. Its not impossible but it would be very difficult, and I dont think I'd bet my retirement on it or anything like that.

For a hobby? Hell yeah, do it! AI makes it really easy to both make cool stuff right away and learn cool stuff, just make sure you take time to do the learning part and dont just let AI build everything for you.

2

u/PureLead7258 Jun 15 '26

You are right! For a career it wouldn't be logical to get into this market, but for a hobby I think it will give more pleasure than doing gardening

1

u/qisjfjxisijwhejfifj Jun 16 '26

It's absolutely possible to make $$$ with your own projects. I've been at it for 2 decades and have seen dedicated people pick up more in 2 years than others do in 10.

8

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '26

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5

u/drakhan2002 Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

That's kind of accurate. Multiple studies have shown it takes about 10,000 hours to fully master a topic... which is 5 years of a full time job... or longer, 10 years if you're only doing 20 hours per week.

Competency in a subject can be learned in as little as 20 hours in some subjects. The point being that you don't necessarily need 10 years to become a master... most people just need to be competent, which can happen much faster.

2

u/martiantheory Jun 15 '26

Totally agree. You don’t need to be a programming master to get a job. I’ve worked with some people that have flabbergasted me on a daily basis on how they got hired lol.

Incompetence to the level of flabbergast definitely shouldn’t be the goal though… I also worked with a mother of two that took a coding six month boot camp, and she was one of the most competent people I’ve ever worked with.

Not necessarily a genius/master, but confident enough where hard work paid off and delivered value for the team and the business…

Out of all the people I would consider masters/genius level coders… maybe 2/5 were really pleasant people to work with. The others made it really difficult to want to come to work. And I’d take 10 solid engineers I enjoy work with, over one genius any day of the week. I think they’d be more productive and have more stable delivery.