First you have to define what a great programmer is. Best CS knowledge? Highest Pay? Most prolific? Leading edge? Knows lots of languages? Most famous? Makes s

First you have to define what a great programmer is. Best CS knowledge? Highest Pay? Most prolific? Leading edge? Knows lots of languages? Most famous? Makes software that users love? Makes profitable companies? Usually great programmers are good at some of the above but never all, so you have to be clear about what you mean by great. After that its easy :)