Problem is the scale. Script kiddies and junior programmers are 0.1x to 0.6x or people reinventing the wheel by not using a framework, they could be far less and let's not talk about security. Experienced (senior) devs should be counted as 1x. Beside knowing to programming fast, they (should) know how programm more correctly.
The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
151–160 of 227 posts
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#152Here is your 10x programmer: https://norvig.com/sudoku.html "In this essay I tackle the problem of solving every Sudoku puzzle. It turns out to be quite easy (about one page of code for the main idea and two pages for embellishments) using two ideas: constraint propagation and search." If you gave this task to an "average" developer, how long would it take for them to implement? How many lines of code would it be? Wo…
I know I'm late to the party, but why isn't everyone mentioning Ron Jeffries infamous TDD Sudoku as a comparison?
A lot of the links are dead these days, I'm afraid, but back in 2007 this was the kind of thing that everyone on HN knew about!
http://ravimohan.blogspot.com/2007/04/learning-from-sudoku-s...
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#15310X programmers DO exist. They aren't just a myth, and they aren't just about knowing when to buy vs build, or when to use a particular framework or toolkit, or how to "mentor" other developers. Chris Sawyer wrote 99% of the code for RollerCoaster Tycoon in x86 assembly language, with the remaining one percent written in C. RollerCoaster Tycoon was a beautiful game which still stands the test of time to this day. The…
Not to diminish the achievement, but worth noting I think that RollerCoaster Tycoon was based on his earlier Transport Tycoon engine, so at least he did get to split the work up between two projects. I have a personal theory the that the average 10x programmer is say 2.5x smarter than average, but also 4x more focused on work, netting a 2.5x4=10x total when you remove all the procrastination and general fumbling arou…
> so at least he did get to split the work up between two projects.
That makes him twice as productive, not half.
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#154If you look at it the other way, is there any field where some pro aren’t 10x « better » than other pros, at least by some metrics ?
In sport it’s pretty obvious there are, and you can measure it because there’s a « winner » and a « looser » at the end of each game. But i’d imagine it’s there in pretty much anything.
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#155I think part of the objection to 10x programmers is around expectations, self-assessment, and attitudes.
There are people out there who have difficulty working with others. Some of those people feel that this difficulty is because they're so FUCKING SMART and the others are morons who are beneath them. They're extremely difficult to work with in a team environment, but come across as completely confident about their own abilities.
These people are toxic to work with. They drag everyone else in the team down (part of the reason they are productive is that everyone else has to spend time and effort dealing with their bullshit).
Management should spot this and deal with it. But in a lot of situations the "10x" has managed to get into a position where they have a lot of information that the rest of the team doesn't have (deliberately, usually) and getting rid of them would be difficult. And some managers buy into the whole myth as well, and having a toxic "10x" on their team that they have to carefully manage is a point of pride, or something.
This archetype, the lone genius developer who is 10x everyone else, is extremely appealing to some people. Regardless of their actual ability, they start believing that they are this. And worse, behaving like this.
So while, yes, there are some programmers out there who are very productive, the majority of self-proclaimed "10x programmers" you're actually likely to meet are just socially unaware assholes with inflated egos.
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#156Being a 10x programmer is not sustainable and doesn’t scale well.
A great team is not made up of lone rangers and wild stallions.
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#157I think part of the objection to 10x programmers is around expectations, self-assessment, and attitudes. There are people out there who have difficulty working with others. Some of those people feel that this difficulty is because they're so FUCKING SMART and the others are morons who are beneath them. They're extremely difficult to work with in a team environment, but come across as completely confident about their…
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Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#158> highly productive developers (10x or otherwise) are problem-solving at a much higher level This is a very important point, but calling these highly productive developers "10x" doesn't really make sense. They are more like "infinity times" compared to the average when it comes to getting a difficult task done, since the average developer would just get stuck and never be able to invent good designs and solve the dif…
Joel Spolsky's "Hitting the high notes" always comes to mind for me when this debate arises.
Spolsky is a 10x blogger. Neither he nor any of his employees were ever 10x programmers. There was nothing algorithmically clever about FogBugz or CityDesk or whatever.
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#159Here is your 10x programmer: https://norvig.com/sudoku.html "In this essay I tackle the problem of solving every Sudoku puzzle. It turns out to be quite easy (about one page of code for the main idea and two pages for embellishments) using two ideas: constraint propagation and search." If you gave this task to an "average" developer, how long would it take for them to implement? How many lines of code would it be? Wo…
Solving a sudoku is just an exact cover problem, for which there already exist solvers. Just write a simple transformation program and you are done. https://www.iwriteiam.nl/D1009.html#9
Re: The Myth of the Myth of the 10x Programmer
#160The best way to carry 8 gallons of milk across a muddy field in a leather bag is to leave it in the cow.
I never assumed that the 10x programmer was actually writing 10x the amount of code in the same time but instead knowing how to do something in a 10th of the time, with less risk and cost (by a using a better algorithm, novel approach, or 3rd party package etc).
It's the difference between being a developer and a programmer