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Ageism is a problem, especially in Start-up companies in Silicon Valley. Hiring Managers are scared of older employees. But, one can overcome by applying lot, stay in touch with latest technology and adapt any environment.
Don’t apply where they are looking for “Rock Star”... it means they are looking for kids for coding and running around with “Codewith....” T-shirts.

Python is what they consider their ‘new’ language? An implementation has been around since the late 1980’s and it started getting popular in the mid 90s. Perhaps they are really talking about django framework programming or similiar which gave python a more recent boost.

I should be retiring from the IT field next July after 35 years in it, which makes me something of an eyewitness for the history of the thing since before the Apple was a gleam in Steve Wozniak's eye (there was another Steve as well, IIRC, name began with a J...nope, can't remember. Probably never amounted to much).

Yes, ageism is real. But there is an advantage to a track record that tends to offset it, depending on the job you're applying for. So stay current and occasionally lay a bet on the industry's direction and you'll be fine. Fact is, a 45-year-old applying for an entry-level programmer position is at a significant disadvantage, not always fairly but that's the way it is.

To be blunt, young managers can be reluctant to hire reports that are significantly older. That's the manager's problem, but if it results in no interview for the older applicant it's his or her problem as well. Only one of the two can do anything about it. That's the way that is, as well.

It's been a wonderful ride but I'm ready for something else. And my own last year has been, in my boss's terms, a "brain suck". I do believe I've written more documentation in that time than in the last I don't know how many. By the time my brain is empty I'll be ready to move on. But I've got 'em fooled - that happened ten years ago. :-)

Ageism is a problem in many industries. I hit the age barrier in my early 50s — no matter how much I did or how much money I brought in, it was all somehow attributed to the younger workers. When I left that postion, they replaced me with three people and still couldn’t produce what I had done. They also fired the next person after me in the supply chain because suddenly, they thought her work product fell off; but it was that I was no longer there greasing the skids for her.

That’s ok; two of my clients hired me.

That ageist idiot boss is now older than I was then. Think I’ll give him a call and ask him if he thinks he no longer “has it.”