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It's results like this which put to rest the "myth" that "10x" programmers don't exist according to some people. In fact, it's been my experience that "100x" or

It's results like this which put to rest the "myth" that "10x" programmers don't exist according to some people. In fact, it's been my experience that "100x" or even "1000x" programmers exist. (Fabrice Bellard is a prominent example of the latter.) For your given practice problem I'd probably spend more time reading it and writing the code than thinking, unless I'm asked to use something like an APL-family language in which case the majority of the time would be spent reading the problem description. (Full-disclosure: mostly self-taught with several decades of experience.)

typewithrhythm 1y ago
Depends, maybe Its more a matter of description, but I would call the lowest quality engineer I've seen employed a "0.1x" engineer, before I would describe a good one as a 10x. Just because it's a kind of visualisation of a distribution, the elite are not that far ahead of the competent, but there is a very long tail of shitters out there.
- bluecalm 1y ago
  Now take that good one and compare them to a guy like Thibault Duplessis (Lichess author), look at his GitHub and commit history for Lichess and you will quickly realize that even with your 0.1x starting point 1000x engineers are out there. The guy single handedly created the best online chess site out there outperforming whole commercial teams in every area (performance, interface, features, whatever you choose). His work ethic is legendary and he pays himself below entry level salary (for US standards).
MichaelRo 1y ago
Compared to someone who's basically a zero in programming, any amount of knowledge pushes the ratio to infinity. The average CS graduate doesn't know shit because universities need volume to survive so basically once in, you are spitted out eventually. And faking projects and cheating on exams is rampant, with the complicit involvement of teaching stuff because they don't care and incentives are biased towards turning a blind eye. So 90% of CS graduates are useless, which it why, thank God, the inflationary pressure towards programmer jobs is far lower than the droves of new arrivals would suggest. Therefore the top 10% are 100x by default compared to the middle because the middle is really a liberal arts graduate, not a computer programmer.
- astura 1y ago
  > universities need volume to survive so basically once in, you are spitted out eventually. This just isn't true, I mean, my university has a graduation rate around ~65% People who know the least amount universities talk the the most confidently about them.
  - 9rx 1y ago
    > People who know the least amount universities talk the the most confidently about them. Well, duh. Nobody is going to waste their time talking about something they know well. What would be the point? They already know about it. Anywhere you find people talking about a subject, you know they have limited understanding. That's why they are talking about it — seeking more information to expand their understanding.
Mawr 1y ago
Your statement is meaningless, as you did not define what the x in 100x is and what being a "programmer" entails. Is x the average? Is a programmer someone who just implements the requested features, or, like bluecalm commented below, someone like the Lichess creator who apparently does all of "performance, interface, features,", etc.? What metric are we using here? Revenue?

typewithrhythm 1y ago

Depends, maybe Its more a matter of description, but I would call the lowest quality engineer I've seen employed a "0.1x" engineer, before I would describe a good one as a 10x. Just because it's a kind of visualisation of a distribution, the elite are not that far ahead of the competent, but there is a very long tail of shitters out there.

bluecalm 1y ago
Now take that good one and compare them to a guy like Thibault Duplessis (Lichess author), look at his GitHub and commit history for Lichess and you will quickly realize that even with your 0.1x starting point 1000x engineers are out there. The guy single handedly created the best online chess site out there outperforming whole commercial teams in every area (performance, interface, features, whatever you choose). His work ethic is legendary and he pays himself below entry level salary (for US standards).

MichaelRo 1y ago

Compared to someone who's basically a zero in programming, any amount of knowledge pushes the ratio to infinity. The average CS graduate doesn't know shit because universities need volume to survive so basically once in, you are spitted out eventually. And faking projects and cheating on exams is rampant, with the complicit involvement of teaching stuff because they don't care and incentives are biased towards turning a blind eye. So 90% of CS graduates are useless, which it why, thank God, the inflationary pressure towards programmer jobs is far lower than the droves of new arrivals would suggest. Therefore the top 10% are 100x by default compared to the middle because the middle is really a liberal arts graduate, not a computer programmer.

astura 1y ago
> universities need volume to survive so basically once in, you are spitted out eventually. This just isn't true, I mean, my university has a graduation rate around ~65% People who know the least amount universities talk the the most confidently about them.
- 9rx 1y ago
  > People who know the least amount universities talk the the most confidently about them. Well, duh. Nobody is going to waste their time talking about something they know well. What would be the point? They already know about it. Anywhere you find people talking about a subject, you know they have limited understanding. That's why they are talking about it — seeking more information to expand their understanding.

Mawr 1y ago

Your statement is meaningless, as you did not define what the x in 100x is and what being a "programmer" entails. Is x the average? Is a programmer someone who just implements the requested features, or, like bluecalm commented below, someone like the Lichess creator who apparently does all of "performance, interface, features,", etc.? What metric are we using here? Revenue?