One of my most valued mentors is in his late fifties. He was easily one of the top programmers in his field at the time. He can still carry conversations with me about LISP, Fortran, and C programming as well as PHP, MySQL, and AJAX development.
He does lack in a few areas where the industry is really nascent; but for the most part he is 'caught up'. But it isn't because he memorizes APIs, it's because he as a vested interest in undertanding the how and the why of things; that one feature of his intellect is the most inspiring for me. He picks new languages up in days, not months, because he understands the fundamentals better than anyone I know.
Focus on the how and the why and you will have all of us youngins beat. The only reason younger people may be ahead is because we aren't "set in our ways"; unset yourself and be a bit younger. It does wonders for older people to realize that they can still have dynamic lives.
He does lack in a few areas where the industry is really nascent; but for the most part he is 'caught up'. But it isn't because he memorizes APIs, it's because he as a vested interest in undertanding the how and the why of things; that one feature of his intellect is the most inspiring for me. He picks new languages up in days, not months, because he understands the fundamentals better than anyone I know.
Focus on the how and the why and you will have all of us youngins beat. The only reason younger people may be ahead is because we aren't "set in our ways"; unset yourself and be a bit younger. It does wonders for older people to realize that they can still have dynamic lives.