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1x Programming

tim.mcnamara.nz

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Re: 1x Programming

#91

Post by emodendroket »

angarg12 wrote: post #25

I praise 1x programmers, but for reasons that might go against the grain in HN. I'm from Spain so our working ethic is different from the Anglo-Saxon world. "Work to live, don't live to work" as the saying goes. My principles for a 1x programmer: * Work is a means to an end. A job should support the lifestyle you want to achieve, not be an end on itself. * 9-to-5 is a perfectly reasonable schedule. Fiercely protects…

I don't want to do excessive overtime (or overtime at all if I can help it, but I'll make an occasional allowance). But I also don't really want to be sitting around during the workday without things to do. That's its own kind of unpleasant experience, to me.

Re: 1x Programming

#92

Post by waynesonfire »

angarg12 wrote: post #25

I praise 1x programmers, but for reasons that might go against the grain in HN. I'm from Spain so our working ethic is different from the Anglo-Saxon world. "Work to live, don't live to work" as the saying goes. My principles for a 1x programmer: * Work is a means to an end. A job should support the lifestyle you want to achieve, not be an end on itself. * 9-to-5 is a perfectly reasonable schedule. Fiercely protects…

you're describing an engineer that isn't taken advantage of. In my view, a 1x programming == average IQ.

Re: 1x Programming

#93

Post by wvenable »

lawn wrote: post #52
cracrecry wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The principle behind being a 10x programmer is not working more, but working less and using tools that multiply you. The 10x dominates the tools ( and techniques and people and capital) that multiply her. If you have a car you can easily and consistently go 10x faster that walking pace. The same applies for your job. Working on a given company, with access to capital and people and tools can multiply you.

But to become a 10x programmer I think you need to put in more effort than if you "only" do your job.

To be more than a 1x programmer, you have to work on things that are not the most immediate goal all the time. This isn't necessarily more effort, it's just different effort, and will not have immediate positive outcome for your company.

All the biggest and most important productivity and outcome enhancing things I've done at work have been done without management knowledge or approval.

Re: 1x Programming

#94

Post by ratww »

raz32dust wrote: post #85

If by 10x, you mean engineers that add 10x more value compared to an average engineer in the team, then from working 10+ years in the industry, it is abundantly clear to me that 10x programmers exist, and a good team is likely to have 5-10% of those. However, these engineers are rare, and when you do find them, they are not perfect. They might have flaws in other areas - communication and teamwork is a common one. Mo…

I find these stereotypes very reductive, and having a bit of prejudice.

Being unproductive is not a guarantee of having good communication skills, and likewise being being highly-productive is not a guarantee of being bad at communication.

If communication is part of the job, in the case of seniors mentoring juniors, for example, then lack of communication skills would definitely prevent someone from being a "10x".

Re: 1x Programming

#96

Post by johnqian »

The term "10x engineer" always leads to incongruous conversation. Everyone has a different impression of what a 10x engineer is, depending on who they've met and how much they enjoy coding. There's those who think 10x = not team player, and there's those who've met an engineer who's both extremely productive and likable. There's those who think 10x = no life inevitable burnout, and those who realize there are people who genuinely enjoy programming more than "normal" hobbies, along with people who are unusually productive but otherwise normal.

This author believes that "10x programmers care about the code. Everything else is secondary." That seems even more arbitrary than other definitions.

I say we let the term become a joke meme and nothing more.

Re: 1x Programming

#97

Post by drBonkers »

cracrecry wrote: post #43
angarg12 wrote: post #25

I praise 1x programmers, but for reasons that might go against the grain in HN. I'm from Spain so our working ethic is different from the Anglo-Saxon world. "Work to live, don't live to work" as the saying goes. My principles for a 1x programmer: * Work is a means to an end. A job should support the lifestyle you want to achieve, not be an end on itself. * 9-to-5 is a perfectly reasonable schedule. Fiercely protects…

The principle behind being a 10x programmer is not working more, but working less and using tools that multiply you. The 10x dominates the tools ( and techniques and people and capital) that multiply her. If you have a car you can easily and consistently go 10x faster that walking pace. The same applies for your job. Working on a given company, with access to capital and people and tools can multiply you.

What are the tools to multiply yourself in a software development setting?

Re: 1x Programming

#98

Post by sokoloff »

drBonkers wrote: post #97
cracrecry wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The principle behind being a 10x programmer is not working more, but working less and using tools that multiply you. The 10x dominates the tools ( and techniques and people and capital) that multiply her. If you have a car you can easily and consistently go 10x faster that walking pace. The same applies for your job. Working on a given company, with access to capital and people and tools can multiply you.

What are the tools to multiply yourself in a software development setting?

Managed services. S3 instead of building a process to store and replicate files on a file system that you manage. DynamoDB or RDS instead of managing your own DB.

Libraries instead of cutting your own code for everything.

Effective searching for projects who have already done the thing you’re about to do.

Sometimes: it’s as simple as taking a day or few days to think the problem through to ensure you really understand it.

Finding a way to deliver the needed functionality in Excel/Sheets instead of a custom application.

Re: 1x Programming

#99

Post by P_I_Staker »

gernb wrote: post #41

Something that came up recenty for me. I took a job at FAANG company and my productivity from my POV sucks! I doubt I've written more than 2k lines of code in 9 months! I'm debugging hardware/driver issues in a giant code base (~250k files) that I don't know and APIs I've not used before. Conversely, in my own hobby code I wrote ~2k lines in the last 10 days. It makes me wonder how often 10x is about circumstance vs…

> I've written more than 2k lines of code in 9 months!

I don't find this astonishing at all. That being said, I work in an industry riddled with red tape and debugging. It wouldn't be a shock to me if you wrote less than 200 lines, maybe even less than 20-50.

> It makes me wonder how often 10x is about circumstance vs programmer skill

Often times it is.

Re: 1x Programming

#100

Post by jensvdh »

drBonkers wrote: post #97
cracrecry wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The principle behind being a 10x programmer is not working more, but working less and using tools that multiply you. The 10x dominates the tools ( and techniques and people and capital) that multiply her. If you have a car you can easily and consistently go 10x faster that walking pace. The same applies for your job. Working on a given company, with access to capital and people and tools can multiply you.

What are the tools to multiply yourself in a software development setting?

CI/CD and more broadly building abstraction layers and automation.
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