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I don't think you can "safely say" that he's among the top 1% of developers based purely on his StackOverflow profile, regardless of how impressive it is. The

I don't think you can "safely say" that he's among the top 1% of developers based purely on his StackOverflow profile, regardless of how impressive it is. The only way you can really "safely say" that someone is within the top 1% (That's a pretty elite group. That's like saying "I can safely say he'll get into Harvard.") is if you've seen a significant amount of their actual code (working with them, OSS, etc) and been consistently amazed.

cletus 16y ago
The "top 1%" is such a great phenomenon. I remember in the 2000 election the top 1% of earners were daemonized by then VP Gore. In a survey some 20% of people thought they were in the top 1% and another 19% aspired to be. And that's with something easily quantifiable. How exactly do you quantify the percentile of a programmer? FWIW I make no such claim about being the top 1% nor do I claim SO ranking translates to the nebulous concept of a programmer's ranking. If anything, SO reputation is a function of time more than anything else. It's also an indicator of persistence but only a positive indicator (meaning lack of a SO ranking obviously doesn't mean a lack of persistence).
- waqf 16y ago
  > the top 1% of earners were daemonized by then VP Gore He set them to run in the background and wake up periodically?
barrkel 16y ago
By the same token, however, don't overestimate the competence of the vast majority of working stiffs who have titles describing them as programmers. Many (I would estimate well over 50%) just turn simple business requirements into business rules by copying and pasting earlier implementations, and getting things done by sheer persistence mixed with some googling, forum questions, etc.
aaronbrethorst 16y ago
He wants to go to the Sorbonne. Harvard is his safety. (Apologies to Wes Anderson)
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cletus 16y ago

The "top 1%" is such a great phenomenon. I remember in the 2000 election the top 1% of earners were daemonized by then VP Gore. In a survey some 20% of people thought they were in the top 1% and another 19% aspired to be. And that's with something easily quantifiable. How exactly do you quantify the percentile of a programmer? FWIW I make no such claim about being the top 1% nor do I claim SO ranking translates to the nebulous concept of a programmer's ranking. If anything, SO reputation is a function of time more than anything else. It's also an indicator of persistence but only a positive indicator (meaning lack of a SO ranking obviously doesn't mean a lack of persistence).

waqf 16y ago
> the top 1% of earners were daemonized by then VP Gore He set them to run in the background and wake up periodically?

barrkel 16y ago

By the same token, however, don't overestimate the competence of the vast majority of working stiffs who have titles describing them as programmers. Many (I would estimate well over 50%) just turn simple business requirements into business rules by copying and pasting earlier implementations, and getting things done by sheer persistence mixed with some googling, forum questions, etc.

aaronbrethorst 16y ago

He wants to go to the Sorbonne. Harvard is his safety. (Apologies to Wes Anderson)

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