Is starting to learn Java at age 33 a joke?

Let me give you my story.

This is the story exactly for you.

So here I was, 35 y.o , a former owner of a restaraunt, a former head of electronic production, then a countless sales manager jobs in Russia with a worse and worse income and attitude towards me. My life was in a total dark hole.

One day my life became so miserable, my wife just gave a birth to a second daughter. I opened a headhunter site and looked at what profession earns more money. It’s a mobile developer! It was trending, it was all everywhere. Everybody’s got a smartphone, so a lot of apps should be written for a market.

One night I said to myself “I’m gonna develop for an android”. I worked 8am-5 pm as a sales manager and went home reading tutorials, studying java and Android sites till 3 a.m. I didn’t sleep more than 5 hours for more than 2 years.

I remember calling a friend of a friend who was a programmer asking “Dude, I can’t understand what the f** is a Class ?” I couldn’t get it. My 35 y.o. head refused to work on that. But I said to myself “You’ll do it!”. I had big problem understanding what is an Interface in java. I was dumb. But in a 6 month I published an app on Google Play. It was written so poorly, so badly (btw it still earn me decent money), but it worked.

My friend made me an order to write an app for him for some money. We agreed on a month. I spent an year on that. During that I continued studying. Worked as a sales manager and got my wage delayed for 3 monthes. So I left a job.

My wife was desperate. We’ve had 2 daughters, one of them was newborn so wife couldn’t work. I needed to provide for them. I still didn’t earn with programming as I was very bad at that. She asked me to go to work as a sales manager again. I said “Honey, you want me to clean the streets when I’ll be able to pump oil very soon. Just hold on a little”. It was in june, I learned android more, everything what was necessary, full day, taking 3–5 hours to sleep. And finally at november I’ve found an order for me on a freelance site where I wrote “Pleeeeease, take me, I need to feed my family! I’ll do it cheaper than everybody”. So I got my first order - a complex app which I wrote in a month. Right after that I’ve found some guy who said “Work for me. from home.” I said “ok” and he gave me a complex app to write in 11 days - so I had no time to sleep again. I was paid badly, but already more than at sales which inspired me.

Then I got a mail from Moscow from a famous book issuing company - my 1st app somehow was noticed and they proposed a remote work for them.

And then I got a better offer from other company - they bought me. and then other company bought me and other. in 2014 I changed 4 places of work as every other offered me more money.

Of course, my skill grew with each month and project.

Now I’m almost 40, I worked as a lead Android dev on a big (and useless) Social Network, also a lead Android dev at a state transport automatization system and recently I got a job for a research-and-developement of a Microsoft product.

So, I hope, my story will inspire you and answer your question.

- Vlad Alexeev, mobile developer who used to run a restaurant