I'm 72, a dev for 40 years. I've lost a step or two. It's harder to buckle down and focus, but using AI tools have enabled me to keep building stuff. I can spec a project, have an agent build it then make sure it works. I just code for fun anyway.
I love using AI to prototype that something is possible then go and build it myself while borrowing bits from that initial MVP. The other night I wanted to build a browser extension that could intercept requests from a tab, claude got me something working in about 10 minutes with a couple prompts and a local storage session and then I toyed with the UI a bit to see what was possible.
Now after a weekend morning I have something much slimmer, predictable and sophisticated running... my extension shows a list of repeated responses and I can toggle which one to send to a localhost api that has a simple job queue to update a sqlite db with each new entry, extract the important parts and send it to my lm studio gpt oss 20b endpoint for some analysis and finally and send me a summary on telegram.
I know what I want in my head but cutting down the experimenting or PoC step down to minutes vs hours is pretty useful and as a competent enough dev it's elevated what I can get done now so I can take on more work than I would have by myself previously.
I'm a 72 year old dev. Ai and Claude specifically are great because I can't focus on code like I used to. Ai has extended my viability for a few years.
I took my first university course in Ada in 1981. I also worked for a company that provided an Ada runtime in the mid 80's.
Ada was sabotaged early on because it was 'mandated' by the DOD for new programs. That meant that all the usual suspects, like Lockheed, GD , TI (I don't remember exactly which ones) came up with Ada compilers and runtimes that cost on the order of $10K per seat. The typical military contractor ripoff. So it was impossible for individuals or small companies to use Ada on their own dime. It was only feasible if the cost was rolled into a larger (bloated) defense contract. So it couldn't get a following. Of course much later on free versions became available but it was too late.
That said, Ada was absolutely no fun to program with. It was awkward and verbose. I hated it from the get go, compared to the alternatives. If it is so super why is rarely used.
Amazing, since the first ADA compiler wasnt released until 1983.
You'll make those HR people happy who want candidates with 10 years of experience in 2 year old languages.
>> That meant that all the usual suspects, like Lockheed, GD , TI (I don't remember exactly which ones) came up with Ada compilers and runtimes that cost on the order of $10K per seat.
I always wondered why I've never seen it used outside government work. Your explanation seems incredibly obvious after reading it.
since I can't get past the paywall, I'm guessing its the government and military. They have lots of legacy systems running on ancient hardware and the cost to upgrade is too high.
I use and like Google Voice, but I do find that some sites won't accept a google voice number for text messages. usually for 2factor. I would like to know what the difference is?
I can't believe #18, developers should be able to write code and the summary saying that he got some/many? candidates who couldn't. Its not that developers can't code, its that recruiters paid on commission will send any warm body to an interview.
