It is more likely that the B's will suffer from their approach in the long term.

However depending on the intent of the projects and lifespan the severity of that suffering will vary.

Both methods are personality traits, there will be isolated incidents of exhibiting the other trait, but more then likely Programmer B is Child B all grown up.

Now to anwser the specific questions:

Who did the better job?

No one. They all did what was expected of them, complete the task.

Did you think Programmer B showed initiative but that Child B cheated?

No. Child B didn't cheat and Programmer B didn't show initiative, they both completed a task in a way that was comfortable to them.


PS

In preparing my reply I struggled with the point of view aspect of the stories. If you are mentally aligned with the A method you will feel that the B's cheated, and if you are mentally aligned with the B's you will feel the A's wasted their time.