[nrmitchi]

> Top performers do more work (generally, not always).

Yes, that is true by definition. What is not necessarily true is that all of that work involves writing code.

> generally people capable of writing more code faster are also capable of writing the right code

I disagree here though, and is highly dependent on what you consider to be "the right code". In my experience the people capable of writing more code faster are the people who don't necessarily take the step back and think "should this code even be written at all?".

[jeffreyrogers]

Maybe, but I see speed as a proxy for ability. If all I know about someone is they can write code fast then I would bet on them being an above average programmer.