Honestly, contrarian opinion ahead, but I don't think so. Software engineering is design just like anything else. Being able to clearly communicate the compon

Honestly, contrarian opinion ahead, but I don't think so. Software engineering is design just like anything else. Being able to clearly communicate the components, workflows, thought process, etc is a sign it's built well. (I'm interpreting "better programmer" to mean one who builds software well or better than average.) Whether that conversation is with a peer, maintainer, or end user, I think the same principle is at work. This is premised on the idea that I believe peer reviews of code and designs are fundamentally a good thing. Talking with more people to get more relevant feedback makes for a better system overall. Context switching is for sure a thing when in the moment of building a system, and having our time in meetings definitely spends our finite attention on those meetings rather than building things. Some amount of meetings is inevitable in any job though. Personally I try to cluster my meetings and prefer them later in the day.