IAma, 66 years old coder and finally wrote a small Python app. TinyDomain.net

What year did you start coding, and with which brand of computers?

I started with HTML (markup language) using Hotmetal editor on Windows 98...

Wow, so you’re a pretty late starter. I expected the answer to be punch cards or assembly language :)

I punch cards in grade 6 :)

Twitter link doesn't work.

https://i.imgur.com/8rb6FJL.jpg

Fixed it for you: https://twitter.com/Roger_Remacle/status/1485796047918014464?s=20

Thank you :)

I know you didn't ask me but I thought I would chime in. I started coding on Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) PDP-11/70 using Basic, FORTRAN, COBOL and assembly language in 1980. The first PC I coded on 1987 was the DEC VAXmate, a PC compatible with a 286 processor running Window 2 aka Windows 286. I'm currently 58 years old.

Ah, kindred spirit. I am 65. I first coded on a PDP 11/34 in assembler in 1980. Actually bought a 11/23, which was the size of a small refrigerator, which I had in my apartment. I too started coding on PC in 1987. Built a software company, ran that for 30 years and sold it last year. Now learning Python - that's what caught my attention in this post.

Never stop :)

1 AM PST Canada.. Old people must sleep. I will be back in the morning to answer questions if any :)

Roger.

Do you think the tech industry has a bias against hiring older coders? I'm not old now, but feel like I will be 40 by the time I feel comfortable I've learned enough to switch from my McDonald's job.

Well, I spent a lot of time learning (Youtube, Tutorials) and some of the best teachers I have come across are between 20 an 35 years of age. No matter how many years of experience we have, unless we keep current (svelte, nextjs, nodejs, the python wave etc..) eventually we become invisible.

So yes , keep learning but don't wait until you know enough to jump in... You will never know enough.

IMHO it’s passion that employers are interested in. If you can show a genuine passion for programming you will become very employable. Naturally, you still need to be able to code but that can be learnt/taught; passion on the other hand, cannot.

Things change as you get older. I’m 47 now and just don’t have the same energy for it as before. This becomes evident to employers at interview and during employment. I have a wealth of experience, but I’ve lost drive and ambition.

This is my fear even at my age (25). I'm not sure if its just the modern digital landscape and the bombardment of entertainment and different sources of dopamine, but I find it very difficult to be ambitious and driven about almost anything. Even things like videogames which I used to spend DAYS playing, I find little joy in anymore. Do you have any advice in regards to my situation? Remaining driven and interested?

Go take a hike. Seriously, shut the machine down. Pack your bags or just put your shoes on and walk everyday, no connection for two weeks. Get outside of the city if you can and enjoy. If it's not in front of you every single minute eventually you'll know what you miss about it...

Why isn’t the name 8 or less characters?

Ah! Good for you. I was waiting for someone to ask. I just bought tinytld.com which will get incorporated into the logo soon. You can use tinytld.com right now, it redirects to tinydomain.net

No .domain open?

tiny.domains is taken otherwise i would have grabbed it :(

What are you using to check the domain availability? It's so fast!

Edit: It doesn't seem to be working properly. I've just checked "wtf" and it said wtf.ca is available, but on namecheap it isn't.

Combination database returns and DNS queries but you do give up some accuracy for speed, we run about 93% positive/positive. This is the norm for all fast domain search tools.

What resources did you use to learn python? I have been somewhat interested but not sure where I should start. What was your first project?

Tinydomain is my first public project, but I have many folders full of trials :)

Tutorials:

https://www.w3schools.com/python/

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/TechWithTim

https://www.youtube.com/c/Coreyms

What was your first project?

Same as everyone more than likely:

print("Hello World!")

My first public app (Windows application) was Alleycode HTML editor (C++) Launched 2003 and stopped updates in 2008.

Why not automatically lowercase the user's input?

Good point, I may just do that... The entire app is built for speed but a lower case function shouldn't slow it to a crawl :)

I remember messing with html as a kid in the 90s! Now I’m also having to learn Python to run psych projects!

What’s your favorite and least favorite coding languages and why?

What’s been the biggest change you’ve seen in how newer coding languages work?

Cheers!

I started with Perl, PHP, (some) C++ but I think my favorite is actually Python. Great logic and simplicity, once you get used to 'proper' formatting it's great. Plus the fact that it's cross platform compatible makes it very popular. I don't have a least favorite.
Probably the biggest coding/scripting change was to bring coding to the browser vs the server ie: Nodejs vs PHP.

my favorite is actually Python.

Yeah but don't you miss TMTOWTDI?

TMTOWTDI

I had to look that up :)

Seriously though, I love the flexibility of perl.

Yes but difficult, i moved on to PHP around 2003-4

Retire? Yes Please!

I'm an old coder as well, and I left it to become a School Bus driver as my fun retirement job/cheevo. I'm so much happier.

I've watched multiple people around me die suddenly at the peak of their amassed wealth, having never really bothered to stop and enjoy what they have accomplished.

I'm trying to learn from their (in my opinion) mistake.

I have no amassed wealth and drove a school bus in the past... We're all good.

Well done and thank you for hosting an AMA! Where can I report bug I found on tinydomain.net?

My email address is in the site footer. Thank you for looking and reporting.

Does it help me find a domain name or just show me available extensions for the KW I enter? Seems to be the latter, which domain registrars already do. Does your project do anything beyond that or is that pretty much it + affiliate links?

Try the "Random" button...

What would be nice is if you could fetch the price (asynchronously of course after the page has loaded and with some heavy caching) from at least one of the providers. Probably a bit difficult to do if you're just 'whois'ing though.

Mainly because you go into it, you see a good domain, you click through and find it's 10k / year.

On my todo list :)

Great job! Is the code on GitHub?

(also 👋 from Fairfield :-)

No it's not on GitHub sorry.

(James Bay :) 👋

I always wanted to learn coding but never took it up. I fear that when I get older I may not be able to learn a new technology that is neccesary for work/daily life. Did you start learning Python recently? Is the process of learning a new coding language different when you are older?

Python has been on my mind for a long time but I started learning it seriously about 6 months ago. If you have previous coding experience it's not complicated, it's actually a breath of fresh air. If you don't then Python is an excellent starting place. Age doesn't matter :)

I'm currently studying computer engineering to hopefully become a coder in the future. However, I struggle to imagine what jobs in this field look like. Can you describe some of your job/jobs that you've lived through and help me grasp what I can expect to be doing in the future as an aspiring programmer/coder?

I have been self-employed most of my life so I picked my own way. Not always successfully but able to pat myself on the back when it worked. Create a project you like and publish it. Building a portfolio is very important, future employers will want to see working apps.

What packages did you use to create this?

Flask, vanilla js, classless css (as a base)...

How much time did it take for you to write this, from start to finish?

I work a my own pace, no deadline. About a month.

What was you main programming language before python and why did you decide to learn python ?

Main was PHP and started Python about 8 moths ago. Python is simple, logical, verbose and works on any platform... That's pretty good start for any language.

Damn I guess I can’t really have any excuse to not code, just wondering I’m a computer engineer who decided to take that course due to his desire to create apps and websites. But it seems like it’s possible to achieve the things I desire without college education. So I wondering since I didn’t like computer engineering I should just switch course, any thoughts on that? Also any recommendations in learning python or tips/resources?

Also thank you for rekindling my desire to learn code!

I would like to hear about this as well. I'm currently in a computer engineering program with the same interests as you, and I figured ce would give me a broader perspective of both sides (hardware & software) of what I'd be making/ working with.

But is an engineering degree in lieu of an easier degree really worth all the extra effort when it's possible to learn and do projects on your own?

I am self-taught but I always wish I had a degree. Don't stop school if you can :)

Sure. Great learning tools are:
For quick simple answers
https://www.w3schools.com/python/
Youtube, Tim and Corey both excellent:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TechWithTim
https://www.youtube.com/c/Coreyms

How do you approach starting and finishing new side projects?

I find that I have some idea's that I think are fun but then I usually over do it on my initial set-up and design which demotivates me as I'm not working on the idea itself (if that makes sense). Do you have tips on how to approach this?

Sometimes designing the front end before coding the back-end will inspire you to bring your static design to life. It does me at least.

There is a little buddha in your pic. Do you believe in Buddhism?

Although I am not religious I find temples very relaxing and welcoming. I have visited temples in Japan and we also have a beautiful temple in Richmond BC. The Buddha is a gift from my son :)

How do you find getting work at your age? I worry about this.

More difficult, I have a number of existing clients which keep me going. It's a normal progression. I learn from 25 to 35 year old, not 65.

Hopefully not too late for a question.

I'm a 35-year-old coder and I really like my job (programming). What I don't like is management (managing people, projects etc.). I work in web development (I'm a PHP backend programmer) and I'm worried that if I don't try some managerial positions soon, the perception of my CV will lower and I'll start getting worse job offers. I'm talking about reactions like "Look this guy is 40 and has only ever been a senior programmer for years, not a team lead nor tech lead - there must be something wrong with him!".

Is it true though? I would really like to avoid doing the managerial stuff just for the sake of "upping my CV". But I also don't want to stall my career development...

I have always been self-employed so I don't have to deal with that level of pressure. Do what is best for you. Don't worry about the ladder climb if that's not what you want. Stay true to yourself.

Cool, what is the referral bonus you're getting?

Mostly peanuts (so far) but you're in no way obliged to use the referral links if you find a domain you like :)

If you want to learn to code can you start learning on your own and how hard and long will be the study until you are able to make a first program?

Absolutely, there are tons of excellent free tutorials online. text and youtube. Try, learn, fail and try again until you get it right. If you are interested in python or php I can give you some good links.

I am interested in both. I want to learn a few programming languages, like 5 and to see what I want and can use the most and these are in the first 5 programming language I want to learn.

Here you go:
Python, Flask, Django:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TechWithTim
https://www.youtube.com/c/Coreyms
PHP, Laravel, Nuxt:
https://codecourse.com/
Great general resource, many languages:
https://www.w3schools.com/