A fair percentage of people who start developing software early end up being passed by people who started later. A seemingly large factor of this is kids learning bad habits on their own and not being able to correct them later, or having a much more difficult time correcting them. (I'm not saying that is the case here, just generally.)
I hear this a lot, but I've never seen actual evidence of it. Everyone who started early that I've seen in computer science classes has been better than people who started later.
I concur. And it's not just mere ability that's at issue, here. Kids who enter computing at a young age are typically motivated more by genuine interest/passion than the later entrants who are more likely just picking a career.
Caveat: we're both dealing purely anecdotal evidence and a fair bit of conjecture. We could easily be wrong.
I started myself when I was in grade 6. I've always been ahead of others that started later as well when I've been in the same class.
But I've also spent a lot of time correcting bad habits, reading on good habits, and relearning a lot of things I did as a child -- and most of the code I wrote as a child was pretty awful.
Still, it's something that I've heard often and I can understand the logic behind it.
A fair percentage of people who start developing software early end up being passed by people who started later. A seemingly large factor of this is kids learning bad habits on their own and not being able to correct them later, or having a much more difficult time correcting them. (I'm not saying that is the case here, just generally.)