Absolutely! But the efficiency gain will come from knowing what to do, not from doing it ten times faster. For example, if the shitty code base doesn't have un

Absolutely! But the efficiency gain will come from knowing what to do, not from doing it ten times faster. For example, if the shitty code base doesn't have unit tests a 10x programmer might decide to put everything else on hold and write a unit test suite. A 1x programmer would perhaps not understand the long term benefits of testing, and instead spend his or her time patching bug after bug. Another trap a 10x programmer would not fall into is deciding to rewrite the whole system from scratch because the code is hard to understand. But sometimes the only way forward is to rewrite it all. It boils down to being a judgement call and the more experienced you are the better judgement calls you make.