4 ms·

I like how he says "you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible"

jimbokun 17y ago
My first thought was "How do I become someone who designs and builds large and complex (yet maintainable) systems in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible?"
- justinlilly 17y ago
  The best way is to have done it before. Its easy to implement something in 1/3rd the time as someone else, if you've done it before and they haven't.
- Tamerlin 17y ago
  Drop the "maintainable" part.
brettnak 17y ago
Does anyone know if Amazon's tech has been developing at 3x the speed that most competent people think possible?
- Tamerlin 17y ago
  Having worked there, I'd say that's a resounding NO.
krosaen 17y ago
yeah, only issue is it might skew towards the egomaniacs. some of the best hackers are very humble
- _pius 17y ago
  ... and very pessimistic, if they've actually built a complex system or read The Mythical Man-Month, which saw its first edition in 1975.
tzs 17y ago
In "Peopleware" by DeMarco and Lister, they report the results of various studies on programmer productivity that showed that the best are an order of magnitude more productive than the average. Similar results hold for companies as a whole. Bezos was not being unrealistic in seeking programmers who could do things in 1/3 the time of what most competent people would think is possible. They are out there.
- j_baker 17y ago
  That's true. But due to the Dunning-Kruger[1] effect, it's more likely to recruit less than competent people. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  - zackattack 17y ago
    I disagree with your observation, since the truly elite tend to have been singled out for their singular achievements. (e.g. winning a putnam, or the USACO, etc)
    - strait 17y ago
      Dev #1, Highly productive developer, careful and detail oriented: "Well, I can probably only build a large system in about half the time that a competent developer would think possible. Better not waste my time with this one." Dev #2, Highly distracted developer, careless and sloppy: "I can put something together 5 times faster than that old guy down the hall who's always reshuffling his paperwork. Hey, I'll give it a shot. They're always hounding my case here anyway." Result: Cadabra HR had too much to drink on the weekend with not enough sleep and Dev #2 is hired monday morning.

My first thought was "How do I become someone who designs and builds large and complex (yet maintainable) systems in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible?"

justinlilly 17y ago
The best way is to have done it before. Its easy to implement something in 1/3rd the time as someone else, if you've done it before and they haven't.
Tamerlin 17y ago
Drop the "maintainable" part.

brettnak 17y ago

Does anyone know if Amazon's tech has been developing at 3x the speed that most competent people think possible?

Tamerlin 17y ago
Having worked there, I'd say that's a resounding NO.

krosaen 17y ago

yeah, only issue is it might skew towards the egomaniacs. some of the best hackers are very humble

_pius 17y ago
... and very pessimistic, if they've actually built a complex system or read The Mythical Man-Month, which saw its first edition in 1975.

tzs 17y ago

In "Peopleware" by DeMarco and Lister, they report the results of various studies on programmer productivity that showed that the best are an order of magnitude more productive than the average. Similar results hold for companies as a whole. Bezos was not being unrealistic in seeking programmers who could do things in 1/3 the time of what most competent people would think is possible. They are out there.

j_baker 17y ago
That's true. But due to the Dunning-Kruger[1] effect, it's more likely to recruit less than competent people. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
- zackattack 17y ago
  I disagree with your observation, since the truly elite tend to have been singled out for their singular achievements. (e.g. winning a putnam, or the USACO, etc)
  - strait 17y ago
    Dev #1, Highly productive developer, careful and detail oriented: "Well, I can probably only build a large system in about half the time that a competent developer would think possible. Better not waste my time with this one." Dev #2, Highly distracted developer, careless and sloppy: "I can put something together 5 times faster than that old guy down the hall who's always reshuffling his paperwork. Hey, I'll give it a shot. They're always hounding my case here anyway." Result: Cadabra HR had too much to drink on the weekend with not enough sleep and Dev #2 is hired monday morning.