I think the difference is that the article is saying that truly "great" programmers come with experience. Experience you can't have at 15. Which is something I

I think the difference is that the article is saying that truly "great" programmers come with experience. Experience you can't have at 15. Which is something I can get behind. The 15 year old programmer can most DEFINITELY be a "prodigy" and will without hesitation have a leg up on most people - including the fact that (s)he will get the experience "sooner" than most. At 25, (s)he will have a decade of experience. At 37, I'm coming up on 6ish years of experience as a programmer (Late bloomer and what not). That doesn't change the fact that being a "prodigy" doesn't give the breathe and depths of experience that comes with... well... time and age.