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This is kind of an unhealthy attitude? @jamii seems super talented, but his bio says "in the past I've built database engines, query planners, compilers, devel

This is kind of an unhealthy attitude? @jamii seems super talented, but his bio says "in the past I've built database engines, query planners, compilers, developer tools and interfaces for [a...] myriad [of] consulting and personal research projects.", along with his repo's being related to SQL parers, or literal text-editors working purely on string manipulation. He is also sponsored to spent 100% of his time doing exactly this. What I mean that he is almost definitely a 10x dev at writing SQL parsers. But ask him to write a shader that renders a neat waterbed material and he'd be likely a 0.8x dev? The overlap between experience and context is key.

spullara 4y ago
When people say they don't exist they mean that they don't exist generally not just when testing someone on a new domain.
- bcrosby95 4y ago
  I don't know anyone that would say that 10x developers don't exist at all. It's too easy to bring up someone like John Carmack or many foundational people in computer science that invented algorithms us layfolk could never imagine. My experience with the phrase is people mean finding a "diamond in the rough" who can code circles around anyone else. It's not about finding a Norvig or Carmack, it's about finding a fresh graduate that you can stick on a problem and they will be bountifully productive. It's basically a manager's wet dream: extremely productive but cheap. In my experience real 10x people appear to be the opposite: seemingly slow but incredibly expensive. Everyone I actually consider 10x makes millions. And of those that are friends, they didn't really reach that 10x stage until their 30s or 40s.
blowski 4y ago
I agree that I think this can be an unhealthy attitude. A lot of us are working on projects where the biggest challenge is convincing the Product Manager to provide more than one sentence in the brief. That said, I can't think of any technical domain where I could do this, even if provided with all the tests up front.
- wwilim 4y ago
  In the case you described you can become a 10x developer by developing some BA skills and having the guts to refuse to work until details are provided.
vsareto 4y ago
"10x" mostly functions as a reputation badge. It's not a realistic metric for performance. It's something you get from other people. There's not a good test to figure out if you're 10x better than some randomly picked average developer.

spullara 4y ago

When people say they don't exist they mean that they don't exist generally not just when testing someone on a new domain.

bcrosby95 4y ago
I don't know anyone that would say that 10x developers don't exist at all. It's too easy to bring up someone like John Carmack or many foundational people in computer science that invented algorithms us layfolk could never imagine. My experience with the phrase is people mean finding a "diamond in the rough" who can code circles around anyone else. It's not about finding a Norvig or Carmack, it's about finding a fresh graduate that you can stick on a problem and they will be bountifully productive. It's basically a manager's wet dream: extremely productive but cheap. In my experience real 10x people appear to be the opposite: seemingly slow but incredibly expensive. Everyone I actually consider 10x makes millions. And of those that are friends, they didn't really reach that 10x stage until their 30s or 40s.

blowski 4y ago

I agree that I think this can be an unhealthy attitude. A lot of us are working on projects where the biggest challenge is convincing the Product Manager to provide more than one sentence in the brief. That said, I can't think of any technical domain where I could do this, even if provided with all the tests up front.

wwilim 4y ago
In the case you described you can become a 10x developer by developing some BA skills and having the guts to refuse to work until details are provided.

vsareto 4y ago

"10x" mostly functions as a reputation badge. It's not a realistic metric for performance. It's something you get from other people. There's not a good test to figure out if you're 10x better than some randomly picked average developer.