[devonbarrett]

I agree with experience being fundamental to ability, but being a teenager does not mean that you have not had experience(albeit not all real world). For instance, a computer science graduate who is 23 and has only been programming while at university has four years experience. However, I have been programming since I was eight years old, and as a result have nine years experience. I am not trying to say that I have am a better developer then the graduate, but even being five years younger, I would have more than double the amount of experience.

Also, I have met plenty of people who below the age of 15 that were invited to Oxford and Cambridge for maths related events, and they had a greater ability than most the people in the room. So yes I think experience does play a major part, but it is not the only factor. If you have the dedication, then age is nothing but a number.

[gfodor]

There are things in life you can fast track via focus and age is not really a factor as much as ability and discipline. There are other things that just take time and living through things. A lot of what produces success is a combination of both.