Gild's data shows that American software developers are particularly good at Web programming. When tested on PHP and HTML, American programmers' scores were respectively 53 and 27 percent higher than their Indian counterparts.

Not surprisingly, American developers also have a better grasp of the English language, as noted in their scores on tests of their English communication skills, which were 33 percent higher than Indian developers.

Desai, who was born in Pakistan, says Gild undertook the comparison of Indian and American programmers for two reasons: One, because the company had enough statistically valid data to compare the two groups, and two, because Gild wanted to see how Indians' and American's technical skills matched up.

"There are lots of perceptions about how good different programmers in different parts of the world are, but there is no hard data," says Desai.

The CEO believes Gild's findings corroborate conventional wisdom regarding the strengths of Indian programmers and American programmers.