Hey all. As part of ongoing research that I am conducting, I would like to ask a crowd, that I feel is the most qualified, to answer a question.

What does the community feel are characteristics of a mature programmer?

I'm not asking the question because I'm looking to hire or anything of that nature. A colleague and I repeatedly hear a trend throughout universities and specifically computer science departments. The students generally ask questions of the form:

• How can I become a mature programmer?
• How can I become a world class programmer?
• What steps should a new programmer take to become more skilled?

So, with that, we are conducting research to attempt to identify an optimized path that would allow an introductory programmer to advance to that of a skilled/mature programmer. Now, I understand that there are many "it depends" out there depending on what vertical industry one works in, but I feel we can determine many common characteristics irrespective of the industry. Any thing you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thanks.