The notion that there's only one kind of "good" programmer strikes me as very shallow. The way that everyone's vision of good programmer seems to align with "ju

The notion that there's only one kind of "good" programmer strikes me as very shallow. The way that everyone's vision of good programmer seems to align with "just like me" is egotistical as well. Is there just one kind of good writer? One kind of good chef? One kind of good lover? Sure, there are some traits that generally correlate with good programmers (clear thinking, love of scientific method, intellectual honesty) and some traits that generally correlate with bad programmers (magical thinking, forgetfulness) but after working with many, many different kinds of programmers, I've found that there's more than one way that works and having different kinds of people on your team is a good thing. Monoculture leads to groupthink and groupthink is an innovation killer. I like to think that I'm a good programmer (not great like some people I know, but whatever). I'm good at the kind of work that I choose to do, but I'm aware that there are all sorts of scenarios that I'm not right for. I once left a job after just a few months because the technology/team/culture fit just wasn't right; to that group, I surely wasn't a good programmer.