[mooreds]

There's programming and then there's software development, which encompasses so much more than programming.

I'd argue that programming (hacking on code) is probably a young person's game, but that software development is not. The main reason isn't that young people are smarter or quicker, it's that they are cheaper (in general). Other parts of software development (requirements, leading teams, owning delivery) are higher leverage and so can handle higher priced older employees (again, in general).

This applies to the vast majority of code I've seen in my decades. Rarely was the brilliance of one developer the critical factor in making or breaking a project.