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10x developer is absolutely a thing, in the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive than other developers. The "other developers

by bdamm 8y ago

10x developer is absolutely a thing, in the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive than other developers. The "other developers" are earning good wages and doing good work; the 10x developer is usually found making 2x or 3x the norm. That said; I just can't believe that a team can perform 10x by the actions of one person. This claim is so outlandish I may just have to skim the article. It is often the case that having a 10x developer nearby can greatly improve the quality of a product, but that's not the same thing as improving the team.

davidsong 8y ago
It's nice to believe and even nicer to talk about, and that's what's important when it comes to writing fuzzy, warm feeling fluff.
freedomben 8y ago
I didn't used to believe in the 10x developer, until I worked with one. This guy was amazing. Not only was he wildly productive and wickedly smart, but he also cared about the people around him and would give talks about how he solved some crazy hard problem in 1/10th the time that was estimated. Had I been smart enough to follow him where he want, I totally would have. > 10x developer is absolutely a thing Agreed, it is. I've seen it.
qwer 8y ago
> the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive than other developers. How are you measuring? LOC? Semi-colons per hour? story points? If you're measuring in "dollars earned", how do you think their managers are measuring? And can they tell the difference between a 10x programmer and an 11x programmer?
- xiphias 8y ago
  Jeff Dean is a great example of 10x (or more) developer. To really appreciate what he has done, just read what infrastructure abstractions he created that helps everybody who's working with big data.
- bdamm 8y ago
  Then clearly you've never met one.
  - qwer 8y ago
    Clearly... but then again I won't work at a place with any developers less than 11x.
sulam 8y ago
> 10x developer is absolutely a thing Sorry, but the only places I've seen 10X developers is when there are lots of 1/10th developers around to compare them to.
- ummonk 8y ago
  Obviously, that's mathematically equivalent...
  - sulam 8y ago
    My point is, at large companies with lots of very competent developers (I've worked at two of these: Salesforce and Twitter), 10X developers are not a thing on any useful metric I can think of. The places I _have_ seen someone be 10X better than the people around them has been more a function of the people around them (their overall ineptitude) vs that individual.

by bdamm 8y ago

davidsong 8y ago

It's nice to believe and even nicer to talk about, and that's what's important when it comes to writing fuzzy, warm feeling fluff.

freedomben 8y ago

I didn't used to believe in the 10x developer, until I worked with one. This guy was amazing. Not only was he wildly productive and wickedly smart, but he also cared about the people around him and would give talks about how he solved some crazy hard problem in 1/10th the time that was estimated. Had I been smart enough to follow him where he want, I totally would have. > 10x developer is absolutely a thing Agreed, it is. I've seen it.

qwer 8y ago

> the easily observed phenomenon that some developers are 10x more productive than other developers. How are you measuring? LOC? Semi-colons per hour? story points? If you're measuring in "dollars earned", how do you think their managers are measuring? And can they tell the difference between a 10x programmer and an 11x programmer?

xiphias 8y ago
Jeff Dean is a great example of 10x (or more) developer. To really appreciate what he has done, just read what infrastructure abstractions he created that helps everybody who's working with big data.
bdamm 8y ago
Then clearly you've never met one.
- qwer 8y ago
  Clearly... but then again I won't work at a place with any developers less than 11x.

sulam 8y ago

> 10x developer is absolutely a thing Sorry, but the only places I've seen 10X developers is when there are lots of 1/10th developers around to compare them to.

ummonk 8y ago
Obviously, that's mathematically equivalent...
- sulam 8y ago
  My point is, at large companies with lots of very competent developers (I've worked at two of these: Salesforce and Twitter), 10X developers are not a thing on any useful metric I can think of. The places I _have_ seen someone be 10X better than the people around them has been more a function of the people around them (their overall ineptitude) vs that individual.