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Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

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Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#41

Post by netsectoday »

thfuran wrote: post #40
netsectoday wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* avoiding object-oriented programming * avoiding testing * avoiding security * avoiding documentation * fixating on known platforms * a highly inflated ego * demeaning other programmers * arguing with experienced programmers during code review * using the word 'maths' (the plural form of math is mathematics) None of this classifies you as a 10x programmer and your comment has 'arrogant' written all over it. You have…

Maths is the proper term in British English.

[flagged]

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#44

Post by CountSessine »

lawn wrote: post #7

One interesting twist is that some problems are completely intractable for most programmers. I mean that they cannot produce a working solution no matter how much time or effort they use, or if they do it's so riddled with bugs it's practically useless. Thus it follows that for certain tasks there are "∞x" programmers. Therefore there are absolutely "10x" programmers as well, which fits in with my subjective experien…

I mean that they cannot produce a working solution no matter how much time or effort they use

Of course, but they don't represent the middle of the distribution. When people speak of the myth of the "10x programmer", that claim is meaningless if they can hold the reference productivity all the way to the far left of the distribution.

Any meaningful claim of "10x programmers" needs to be measured against the mean or median of the distribution - the so-called "average programmer". How many non-dysfunctional "10x programmers" who don't create messes for others genuinely exist?

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#45

Post by netsectoday »

foobar_ wrote: post #43
netsectoday wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Classic projection. You probably suffer from it. I spell out my weaknesses clearly. And Object Astronauts suck.

Not quite sure what I'm projecting here... Your statement "I would probably classify myself as a 10x" is very misguided, and your response here is a poor attempt at manipulation. I only spoke up because I saw others agreeing with you about being a 10x under your definition; which is more aligned with a programming intern's view of the world.

Here's my opinion on what I have seen in the workforce for 10x and 100x engineers: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20441541

I think you'll connect with my last statement in that comment.

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#46

Post by celticmusic »

foobar_ wrote: post #43
netsectoday wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Classic projection. You probably suffer from it. I spell out my weaknesses clearly. And Object Astronauts suck.

the correct term is architecture astronauts, but we get your point.

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#47

Post by esmi »

drdeadringer wrote: post #36

I remember once being asked during a phone-screen how many lines of code I had written. Ever. Some of those things were on classified systems years ago, there is no way I'm going to remember that or even be able to look that up any more. Why would I ever log "wrote a net-worth of xyz lines of code today" for a personal record? I've never worked for anybody who had that as a metric but apparently I had a chance to now…

It was probably just a question testing your ability to estimate. Of the “how many manholes are in Seattle” ilk.

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#48

Post by foobar_ »

netsectoday wrote: post #45
foobar_ wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classic projection. You probably suffer from it. I spell out my weaknesses clearly. And Object Astronauts suck.

Not quite sure what I'm projecting here... Your statement "I would probably classify myself as a 10x" is very misguided, and your response here is a poor attempt at manipulation. I only spoke up because I saw others agreeing with you about being a 10x under your definition; which is more aligned with a programming intern's view of the world. Here's my opinion on what I have seen in the workforce for 10x and 100x engi…

Keep on projecting. Let me guess, you show up on time and kiss upper managements ass. You believe in patents. As far as I am concerned Hacker News is not for corporate drones like yourself. That's me disparaging you.

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#49

Post by rightbyte »

barry-cotter wrote: post #24
AlchemistCamp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are there other fields/jobs where someone can consistently produce 10x more than others simply on their own ability? Sales. Some people can make it rain and generally nobody begrudges paying them well to do so.

Fiction or non-fiction writing. The difference between Terry Brooks and the average wannabe fantasy author is enormous and the difference between him and JRR Tolkien is greater again. Mathematics. Terence Tao is as far ahead of the average Math professor as they are of the average high school Math teacher. Law. If you give the average lawyer twenty times as much time and all the research resources of a partner at Ska…

Add carpentry or vehicle technician to that list. All jobs where you have some sort of choice on how and what to do and motoric aptitude leads to high variance in skills.

The big difference is maybe that bad vehicle technicians are singled out by the boss or customers and quit? While neither the boss or customer can pinpoint a single programmer.

Re: Alan Cooper on the “10x” Programmer

#50

Post by netsectoday »

foobar_ wrote: post #48
netsectoday wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite sure what I'm projecting here... Your statement "I would probably classify myself as a 10x" is very misguided, and your response here is a poor attempt at manipulation. I only spoke up because I saw others agreeing with you about being a 10x under your definition; which is more aligned with a programming intern's view of the world. Here's my opinion on what I have seen in the workforce for 10x and 100x engi…

Keep on projecting. Let me guess, you show up on time and kiss upper managements ass. You believe in patents. As far as I am concerned Hacker News is not for corporate drones like yourself. That's me disparaging you.

I've run my own startups (4), been through startups, ran the corporate race, successfully exited, successfully failed, ran successful projects, ran successful dev teams, ran some projects and dev teams into the ground, and now I'm back to entrepreneurship. I've just assumed this entire time that by comparison to an active entrepreneur you are a corporate drone, but let's stop the name calling.

I don't have to believe in patents; they are real, but a necessary evil. Go ahead and invest your own money into a unique process or product, bring it to market, then let's chat again about if you "believe" in patents.

I think I fit quite nicely here on Hacker News, and you do too because you can improve yourself with the intro to programming posts and tips on team etiquette.

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