
Ask HN: Is now a good time? - bongwalla
I really enjoyed learning new programming languages but decided in college that long-term &quot;being a programmer&quot; wasn&#x27;t for me.  I enjoyed thinking through the problem, and enjoyed long, late-night coding session to get projects done on time (typically putting off all the work until the last minute).  But it also, at the time, seemed like a pretty uninteresting area (maybe I was just naive, this was around 2002 for context).<p>Eventually I went into finance (think derivatives risk management not accounting) and had a great time over the last decade given all the turmoil and changes taking place.<p>It now feels like the tables have turned - finance is more heavily regulated and innovation is basically frowned upon (I know &quot;blockchain&quot; &quot;bitcoin&quot; yadda yadda, there will be a few big winners but unlikely to really drive fundamental change).  Whereas the technology space is clearly making incredible leaps and making huge fundamental changes to the ways companies use technology to power their business.<p>It got me thinking, is now actually a really good time to make a transition?  Ignore the personal side of things, assume I can take the time to do it.  It seems like the rapid pace of change actually makes the fact that I haven&#x27;t been programming the last 10 years a non-issue.  Everything has changed so much, and so many specific technical skills seem to be going out the window, it doesn&#x27;t feel like I&#x27;m &quot;starting from scratch where everyone has a 10 year head start.&quot;  It feels more like &quot;Hey I can get up to speed on a language or two and the newest infrastructure platforms and in short order be relatively useful.&quot;<p>So...is now a good time?  Is the rapid pace of change a benefit for those who are intrigued by the new technologies and want to move in that direction?  Or is the head start the rest of the world has gotten still a massive obstacle to overcome?
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mobitar
Now is just the beginning.

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bongwalla
Certainly seems like it, which means "continual learning" is more important
than ever, which seems like it should level the playing field in some sense. I
wonder what people with a lot of experience think their main differentiators
are that are a result of just having a lot of experience.

