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I've been a developer for about 3 years now. This is probably my own fault, but I feel pressured to be constantly doing something towards programming. I feel l

I've been a developer for about 3 years now. This is probably my own fault, but I feel pressured to be constantly doing something towards programming. I feel like I should either be reading a book or starting a project. I have 10+ programming books where I just finished reading one of them and I have way more unfinished projects than I could count. It's reassuring to see the push-back against the 10x developer idea, I'm starting to feel less guilty now when I spend my free time NOT on programming. Something that has also helped me out is picking a project to do, and ignoring everyone else's projects. I would always get pulled away with what I'm starting to work on because I see someone using a new technology or doing something unique. When I would see that I would change up my project because I felt it wasn't good enough or that it wouldn't make me a 10x developer. Now I'm just trying to focus on what makes me happy and what I find enjoyable to work on. I want to ask though - the author works at Amazon and considers himself a 1x developer. What does that mean for everyone else who doesn't work at Amazon or a FAANG company? Is a 1x developer at a FAANG company a 10x developer elsewhere?

Bahamut 6y ago
A 1x developer at one of the tier 1 tech companies is...just a 1x developer - doesn't really matter where you're at. Being a multiplier is not about just being technically proficient. It's about enabling your whole team to be more productive, and help getting to the right decisions, instead of decisions that might cost your team or coworkers huge amounts of extra work long term.
- cyrialize 6y ago
  > Being a multiplier is not about just being technically proficient. It's about enabling your whole team to be more productive, and help getting to the right decisions, instead of decisions that might cost your team or coworkers huge amounts of extra work long term. Thank you for this comment! I'll keep this in mind as I progress through my career. It's nice to know that it isn't just about being technical.
- Aeolun 6y ago
  Also on getting your team to actually following those recommendations. I can be right every time, but still nobody wants to listen.
overgard 6y ago
I don't think it's so much about practicing outside of work hours, it's more about being mindful about how you're going about what you're doing and evolving it to make more sense. If there's a trait I notice in mediocre developers it's more just that they have no interest in examining their own work habits. Its the guy that always reaches for the menu bar instead of learning keyboard shortcuts, or the guy that refuses to learn anything about functional programming because they want to stick to the basic java they learned in college.
- mm89 6y ago
  > Its the guy that always reaches for the menu bar instead of learning keyboard shortcuts I think judging someone based on their computer habits like being a command-line guy versus a GUI guy might be a risky thing. I'm a command-line guy through and through, but my newest boss comes from a different background and is very GUI-focused, and I think it would be easy to assume he's mediocre based on his choice of tools and such, but the results are more what matters. That said, he seems like a pretty stubborn guy and I've definitely seen some warning signs on being resistant to change.
  - mixmastamyk 6y ago
    GUIs have had comprehensive keyboard shortcuts starting with the Apple Lisa and improving rapidly from there. Although they may have atrophied a bit in the man-bun Electron era.
ThrowawayR2 6y ago
> "It's reassuring to see the push-back against the 10x developer idea, I'm starting to feel less guilty now when I spend my free time NOT on programming." 10x developers don't spend their free time programming, at least in my observation. They don't need to. > "I want to ask though - the author works at Amazon and considers himself a 1x developer. " A 1x developer would be an average (ok, fine, median) developer, no? About half are better and about half are worse. Compared to the bottom half of the statistical distribution, a 1x developer would by definition perform better.
- cyrialize 6y ago
  > 10x developers don't spend their free time programming, at least in my observation. They don't need to. Ah, I guess I need to read more about what people view as a 10x developer. I didn't mean to imply that a 10x developer spent all of their free time coding. I just meant that with companies, job descriptions, other dev, etc. talking about wanting a 10x developer I feel pressured to spend my free time programming, or at least doing something that would make me feel like I'm a worthy candidate. > A 1x developer would be an average (ok, fine, median) developer, no? About half are better and about half are worse. Compared to the bottom half of the statistical distribution, a 1x developer would by definition perform better. That makes sense. I guess what I'm trying to understand is, could you call yourself a 1x developer (or average) when working at a FAANG company? Doesn't working at a FAANG company imply that you are better than average, considering the status of these companies, their rigorous interview processes, and so on? I get the impression that FAANG only hires 10x developers, or at least developers that come across as 10x. I apologize if I'm coming across argumentatively at all. I'm just trying to understand if the author is actually a 1x developer, or if they're a 1x developer at Amazon. Would a 1x developer at Amazon be a 10x developer elsewhere?
  - 7786655 6y ago
    >Doesn't working at a FAANG company imply that you are better than average, considering the status of these companies, their rigorous interview processes, and so on? No.
  - cutemonster 6y ago
TrackerFF 6y ago
As long as you're not a -Nx programmer (or at least Nx where N >= 1), you're good.
alexbanks 6y ago
No. Average devs are average devs everywhere. Amazon's scale is different, but it's not like the scope of an individual dev's problems are inherently different at FAANG than not. Not everyone will work on the most intellectually intense pieces of code at FAANG companies; in fact most don't.

Bahamut 6y ago

A 1x developer at one of the tier 1 tech companies is...just a 1x developer - doesn't really matter where you're at. Being a multiplier is not about just being technically proficient. It's about enabling your whole team to be more productive, and help getting to the right decisions, instead of decisions that might cost your team or coworkers huge amounts of extra work long term.

cyrialize 6y ago
> Being a multiplier is not about just being technically proficient. It's about enabling your whole team to be more productive, and help getting to the right decisions, instead of decisions that might cost your team or coworkers huge amounts of extra work long term. Thank you for this comment! I'll keep this in mind as I progress through my career. It's nice to know that it isn't just about being technical.
Aeolun 6y ago
Also on getting your team to actually following those recommendations. I can be right every time, but still nobody wants to listen.

overgard 6y ago

I don't think it's so much about practicing outside of work hours, it's more about being mindful about how you're going about what you're doing and evolving it to make more sense. If there's a trait I notice in mediocre developers it's more just that they have no interest in examining their own work habits. Its the guy that always reaches for the menu bar instead of learning keyboard shortcuts, or the guy that refuses to learn anything about functional programming because they want to stick to the basic java they learned in college.

mm89 6y ago
> Its the guy that always reaches for the menu bar instead of learning keyboard shortcuts I think judging someone based on their computer habits like being a command-line guy versus a GUI guy might be a risky thing. I'm a command-line guy through and through, but my newest boss comes from a different background and is very GUI-focused, and I think it would be easy to assume he's mediocre based on his choice of tools and such, but the results are more what matters. That said, he seems like a pretty stubborn guy and I've definitely seen some warning signs on being resistant to change.
- mixmastamyk 6y ago
  GUIs have had comprehensive keyboard shortcuts starting with the Apple Lisa and improving rapidly from there. Although they may have atrophied a bit in the man-bun Electron era.

ThrowawayR2 6y ago

> "It's reassuring to see the push-back against the 10x developer idea, I'm starting to feel less guilty now when I spend my free time NOT on programming." 10x developers don't spend their free time programming, at least in my observation. They don't need to. > "I want to ask though - the author works at Amazon and considers himself a 1x developer. " A 1x developer would be an average (ok, fine, median) developer, no? About half are better and about half are worse. Compared to the bottom half of the statistical distribution, a 1x developer would by definition perform better.

cyrialize 6y ago
> 10x developers don't spend their free time programming, at least in my observation. They don't need to. Ah, I guess I need to read more about what people view as a 10x developer. I didn't mean to imply that a 10x developer spent all of their free time coding. I just meant that with companies, job descriptions, other dev, etc. talking about wanting a 10x developer I feel pressured to spend my free time programming, or at least doing something that would make me feel like I'm a worthy candidate. > A 1x developer would be an average (ok, fine, median) developer, no? About half are better and about half are worse. Compared to the bottom half of the statistical distribution, a 1x developer would by definition perform better. That makes sense. I guess what I'm trying to understand is, could you call yourself a 1x developer (or average) when working at a FAANG company? Doesn't working at a FAANG company imply that you are better than average, considering the status of these companies, their rigorous interview processes, and so on? I get the impression that FAANG only hires 10x developers, or at least developers that come across as 10x. I apologize if I'm coming across argumentatively at all. I'm just trying to understand if the author is actually a 1x developer, or if they're a 1x developer at Amazon. Would a 1x developer at Amazon be a 10x developer elsewhere?
- 7786655 6y ago
  >Doesn't working at a FAANG company imply that you are better than average, considering the status of these companies, their rigorous interview processes, and so on? No.
- cutemonster 6y ago

TrackerFF 6y ago

As long as you're not a -Nx programmer (or at least Nx where N >= 1), you're good.

alexbanks 6y ago

No. Average devs are average devs everywhere. Amazon's scale is different, but it's not like the scope of an individual dev's problems are inherently different at FAANG than not. Not everyone will work on the most intellectually intense pieces of code at FAANG companies; in fact most don't.