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  • no, but at 23 you'd wish you started at 22

    as the saying goes the best time to start was when you were 6 the second best time is now

  • Don't ever, and I mean ever, let anyone tell you that you're too old to try something new. If anyone ever does, know, deep in your heart, that person is insecure and afraid of being their authentic self. Go forth, try new things, learn new knowledge, find out you don't like things, sometimes get frustrated, and discover the things that make life worth living for you. You will be so much happier if you set aside what anyone else will think of you and focus on "This interests me"

  • I've been a professional software engineer for over ten years now. I didn't study anything to do with computers until I was 20; I'd been aiming for a different career and was halfway through a degree before I discovered I didn't enjoy it and wasn't getting very good grades, so I swapped.

    While at uni, I was part of the student mentor program where I did teaching assistant work for the lower years. One of the students in the lab group I assisted was a guy in his forties who'd seen his factory job automated away and decided if computers were going to take his job, he'd go learn how to work with computers and move into the sector that was creating jobs rather than removing them. He was a good student and picked things up quickly. I have every confidence he's still out there doing well as an engineer.

    22 is a perfectly fine age to start. If you've got the right attitude - the desire and motivation to focus on your studies and put in the work - you'll do great.

    One thing worth being aware of beforehand though is how a lot of your studying might go. The professor I assisted in those labs told me about an observation that's been made in the teaching profession, and I saw it in action myself. A lot of computer science and programming is about finding the mental model that helps you understand what's happening, how the computers work. Until you find it, you'll be stuck. Then, something will click, and it'll make sense. The professor told me they don't see the usual bell curve of grades - they see two. One cluster of students at the bottom who don't get it, and one higher up who understand. A lot of learning computing is less of a linear progression and more a process of running into the wall until you chance upon the particular explanation or analogy or perspective that works for the way you think, and then suddenly that particular concept is easy, and it's onto the next one. This series of little clicks is how you progress.

    Once you've got a few core concepts down it's easier to work out how new things fit into the mental model you're constructing, but be prepared for the early bits to have some frustrating periods where it feels like you aren't getting anywhere. Stick at it, and look around for other resources, other books or tutorials, other people to explain it their way. I frequently saw a student look totally clueless at my explanation, but another student who'd understood what I said would paraphrase it slightly differently, and that was all it took for the clueless student to suddenly understand and pass the exercise. That lightbulb moment is as fun to experience yourself as it is to bring about in others. You just have to hang in there until it happens.

  • Fuck no, do what you love and what calls to you. If you haven’t found anything yet, you need to broaden your horizons.

    It’s much more cut and dry than most people think. All these questions have to do more with you and what you’re willing to do than the logistics. You’ll almost always be able to work logistics out eventually so focus on the you part to make sure your “vehicle” is suitable for the terrain

  • The only way you're "too old" for something is if you are like 60 and want to become a commercial pilot. The age limit is 65 and if you spend a few years training, you're left with like 1 year of flying time. No airline would hire you, and that probably doesn't earn as much as the time you spent.

    But computer science have no age limit. Age 22 is barely anything. You're just a child (like not in a bad way), not even old enough to be a US Congressperson or US President. If you keep wondering about if you're too old, you might soon actually become "too old". Start now.

    And good luck! 😉

  • Waaay too old..

    Of course not, dude. I switched careers from music to software dev at 28 without any formal education (now 7yrs later a senior dev).

  • I think yes, if you consider that you can still get hooked on a pretty bad heroin addiction, you are probably already through with most of your life. Instead of wasting your last years trying to figure out all the bits and bytes, you could just enjoy the rest of it.

  • Never too old. I'm 35 and just now starting to figure out what I might want to be when I grow up.

  • No.

    Computer science is the academic name. If you're planning on becoming a software engineer, you can also self learn that via YouTube and books; though academia does give a pretty good start.

    The best time to plant a tree is yesterday. The next best time is right now.

  • There's no such thing as too old. Certainly not for such a broad, definite question.

    My colleague in retirement age accepts and applies new concepts and approaches.

    I think you can do it at 22.

119 comments