Is the "over 40" part something I added for my own self-aggrandizement?  Yes.

Kevin Montrose:

One interpretation of those results, which I have no additional evidence for, is that you donโ€™t really get worse at things over time you mostly just learn new things. That would gel with recent observations about older developers being more skilled than younger ones.

[from the page to which that links:]

Older software programmers have long complained of age discrimination. But according to study conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University, companies should think twice before hiring a young hot-shot hacker over a seasoned developer.
 
Interesting compared to two links I just put into draft wondering if the reason it's better to hire young is because they're more willing to take risks and receive amorphous rewards.  You know, that young kids will do anything for "fake internet points".

Of course we've got lots of counter-arguments.  One is that folks that stink at programming and enrolled in that at school "to get a good job" stop.  Perhaps there are fewer old bad programmers because, professionally speaking, they die out.  Also, since the NCSU study looks at StackOverflow a ton, you're also getting a cross-section of developers who either 1.) Continue to act young, and like fake internet points, or 2.) Had a community-minded orientation from the start.  I'd argue that #2 is a group of people who are better employees from the start.

Still, a good link to put on the old resume, eh?

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