Having been a "young developer" and now an "old developer" (mid-50s) here is how I see the pros and cons of older developers:
Pros of being older:
1. Wisdom from having written a million lines of code and having run into all the bugs before.
2. Can more capably see the pros and cons of the latest fads.
3. Not as distracted by the need to play.
4. Don't drink as much (the younger generation drinks a LOT!
5. Capable of providing adult leadership.
Cons:
1. Even those of us in excellent shape just don't have the energy we used to.
2. Family distractions lead to lack of free time to keep up with new developments.
3. Family distractions lead to more errors.
4. We are sure we've seen everything already. (And boy are we wrong!).
All in all, my next startup is definitely going to have a mixture of wise, seasoned hands and energetic young devs.
Pros of being older: 1. Wisdom from having written a million lines of code and having run into all the bugs before. 2. Can more capably see the pros and cons of the latest fads. 3. Not as distracted by the need to play. 4. Don't drink as much (the younger generation drinks a LOT! 5. Capable of providing adult leadership.
Cons: 1. Even those of us in excellent shape just don't have the energy we used to. 2. Family distractions lead to lack of free time to keep up with new developments. 3. Family distractions lead to more errors. 4. We are sure we've seen everything already. (And boy are we wrong!).
All in all, my next startup is definitely going to have a mixture of wise, seasoned hands and energetic young devs.