> Does anyone know any reliable ways of telling the difference? Beforehand I mean; it's easy to tell in hindsight. Sure, here are some: * Ask the opinion of p

> Does anyone know any reliable ways of telling the difference? Beforehand I mean; it's easy to tell in hindsight. Sure, here are some: * Ask the opinion of people who have worked with the candidate. * Arrange for the candidate to explain some of his recent code and its workings to someone unfamiliar with his specialty. +1 if the listener comes away understanding the code. * Ask the candidate to write a short algorithm that solves an uncommon problem, see what kinds of methods and variable names he uses, and whether there are enough comments (not too many, not too few) and structural clarity that the code could be maintained by a third party. Most programmers don't want to be replaced, but the dangerous ones are those who think they can't possibly be replaced. Some of the latter group code in such a way that their personal belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.