Older Is Wiser - Study Shows Software Developers' Skills Improve Over Time

There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren’t able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time – and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers when it comes to recent software platforms. - Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill, NC State University

This has been making the rounds but don’t get too excited, in our attention deficient summly culture, you might miss the most important part several paragraphs down.

They found that an individual’s reputation increases with age, at least into a user’s 40s. There wasn’t enough data to draw meaningful conclusions for older programmers.  - Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill, NC State University

NPR has reported on aging numerous times. Mental dexterity doesn’t seem to utterly vanish, and I’d be curious to see a study following around 50+ year old programmers. While aging and mental abilities seems to be a mixed bag of research, problem solving seems to improve over time.