I am not convinced by the idea that developers are either born with it or they are not. Where’s the empirical evidence to support these types of claims? Can a programmer move from say the 50th to 90th percentile? However, most developers are not in the 99th or even 90th percentile (by definition), and thus still have room for improvement in programming ability, along with the important skills.The belief in innate talent is “lacking in hard evidence to substantiate it” as well.So how do I reconcile these seemingly contradictory statements?

I think the lesson for software developers who wish to keep on top of their game and become experts is to keep exercising the mind via effortful studying. I read a lot technical books, but many of them aren’t making me better as a developer.