Using data to check if you are too old to learn programming
“…By the time I would finish school I’ll be fifty? He smiled.
“You’re going to be fifty anyhow”― Edith Eva Eger, The Choice: Embrace the Possible
“Am I too old to learn coding?” As a woman in my thirties and currently transitioning into data science, this question was especially relevant.
From dealing with imposter syndrome, navigating a male-dominated industry, and choosing which one of the million available online courses and resources to take, it’s a crazy world. But thanks to the internet, a willingness to follow my dreams, and great mentors, the journey is bearable and worth it.
In this article, I will use a data-driven approach to answer three age-related questions.
The data
The Stack Overflow survey is an annual event that targets developers, programmers, and people who code around the world. This article uses 2020 survey data from 65,000 participants.
From the data, I will attempt to answer these three questions;
- Are you too old to learn to code?
- What factors contribute most to starting late to code?
- What are the subtle or obvious consequences of late adopters of the coding lifestyle?
