Yeah, after 35 years in the profession, I've stayed (mostly) entertained by delving into nontraditional problem spaces that require me to learn about new subjects more than programming tools.
After my first job of coding w/ databases, I wandered into discrete event modeling for the FAA, building the graphical display of a R&D air traffic control simulation. Next, I built a distributed Unix-based server framework to visualize tactical entities on multilayer map products for combat C^3 simulations. That led to fielding a very large database on a massive parallel supercomputer for gov't intelligence sifting. Then I helped others to use of supercomputers in academia, and finally, I ended up in biomedical image analysis to assess drug development, now involving (deep) machine learning.
So rather than learn how to do the same old thing but switch languages periodically, I opted to learn new problem spaces or employ novel computational models. I can't say such a wandering path was ideal, but here I am still coding in my fourth decade.
Frankly though, I think my next transition is approaching. Maybe it'll be music synthesis or speech recognition or adaptive computer security. It's a big world out there.
After my first job of coding w/ databases, I wandered into discrete event modeling for the FAA, building the graphical display of a R&D air traffic control simulation. Next, I built a distributed Unix-based server framework to visualize tactical entities on multilayer map products for combat C^3 simulations. That led to fielding a very large database on a massive parallel supercomputer for gov't intelligence sifting. Then I helped others to use of supercomputers in academia, and finally, I ended up in biomedical image analysis to assess drug development, now involving (deep) machine learning.
So rather than learn how to do the same old thing but switch languages periodically, I opted to learn new problem spaces or employ novel computational models. I can't say such a wandering path was ideal, but here I am still coding in my fourth decade.
Frankly though, I think my next transition is approaching. Maybe it'll be music synthesis or speech recognition or adaptive computer security. It's a big world out there.