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The 10x software developer

Thomas Hansen on July 17, 2022

Before I changed the email address associated with my GitHub account I had 7,500 commits towards GitHub. I was the top contributor to GitHub by far...
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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel πŸ•΅πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Fayard • Edited

Some issues with the 10x developer myth:

  • not based on any data: "my source that I'm 10x? I just made it up"
  • even then it would be super valuable to have an only 8x developer, again the 10x thing is just made up
  • humility is a great virtue of the programmer and people claiming to be 10x better are unlikely to be humble ; or if they are they are the biggest humble persons you have ever seen
  • it sets unreasonable expectations - some developers are already stressing out because the jobs requirements want you to master 10 programming languages including 15 years of experience with Rust. And now you need to be 10x better than others too.
  • also it's a tautology, in any field you have people better than others, but pizzaiolos don't usually dick aroung claiming to be 10x pizzaiolo, they let the pizza speak for themselves
  • also it completely misses the point because programming is a team sport so it's the equivalent of some football player wanting to prove hard that he's the new Messi and never sending the ball to its team mate
  • also it is worth very little to program super fast if you are working on the wrong product. That's where the work of every non-IT person in your company is also super important
  • having a 10x developer in your team strongly correlates with having a bus factor of one

The one thing I agree with is the motto

"What is the simplest possible thing that works?"

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I've answered another permutation of this concern in another comment here ...

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel πŸ•΅πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Fayard • Edited

You answered the one about some programmers being much better than others, which is my point number 4 : it's a tautology valid in every field.

Usually though great things are done by normal people.

The roman empire wasn't the best because some soldiers individually were 10 times better than their barbaric opponent. If it had to rely on that, it wouldn't have survived for almost 2000 years (including Bysanthium).

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

That's true, but 10x developers also have an ability to (often) pull others around them up, by coaching and tutoring those they work with ...
Resulting in that everybody becomes better as individuals, resulting again in that the team as a whole delivers more!

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel πŸ•΅πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Fayard

But then they are mostly great teachers instead of abnormally good developers. Which is good, I wrote blog posts here because I try to be a better teacher.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

The best teachers are (often) the best doers - Not always, but often enough to be a general pattern ... ^_^

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jmfayard profile image
Jean-Michel πŸ•΅πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Fayard • Edited

On one hand you need to know your job to teach it well.
On the other hand good pedagogy is a skill on its own,
that people with great technical skills may be bad at or simply uninterested at learning.

Look at Linus Torvalds.
Arguably a great programmer and a terrible teacher,
unless the rules of pedagogy changed
and insulting people publicly by email when they do it wrong is now the way to go.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I said mostly - Thank you for reminding me though. Now go read some of the comments here proclaiming that "the best software developers are humble and meek" ... ;)

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

So, just creating debate and controversy to promote your business I suspect right? This is just a marketing scheme, I'm guessing most of what you said is bullshit or at least exagerated am I correct?

I have to say this post made me really uninterested in your project and I think most people will feel this way too. I don't think it's the best strategy (I might be wrong though...) to promote a product. I feel your ego is blinding you a bit mate!

Good luck, I hope you find a bit of humility!

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen • Edited

I'm not really sure about how to respond to this? Did you have a question or a comment somehow providing further insight into the subject? Or you just out to bash others for writing their opinions ...?

Or maybe you're one of "the other guy's communist friends" who believes in that all business is ethically and morally wrong, and that we should eat only fruit falling from trees, to prevent "additional suffering unto semi-sentient beings" ...?

Humility is overrated mate ... :/

Don't believe me, read some of the other comments here ...

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff • Edited

The first paragraph was probably not expressed correctly but is a legit question. The second paragraph is just my opinion which I'm allowed to give as you posted this publicly. Not bashing your opinion, just adding mine

I'm pretty sure you expected some comments like mine...

EDIT: I don't think this post is just an opinion, it's a statement on how cool you, your colleagues and your business are and how not cool non-10x developers are... which is kinda toxic. And I really don't agree with it, that's all.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

OK, as to the first paragraph; YES! I wish more people were interested in deep and profound articles, allowing us to market our stuff based upon neutral and factual information. Unfortunately the world has grown so shallow that it's impossible to get attention unless you either stir the pot, or show your boobs. I have no boobs, hence here we are ...

As to the second paragraph? I can't remember it, however I suspect the above probably applies in equal quantities to that too ...

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

Okay, fair enough. I can agree with this. It's a shame... is it working though (asking out of curiosity)?

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

It's working'ish, but it's exhausting, because every opinionated schmuck without wisdom to understand why I write the way I do comes popping out of the woodwork to attack you for "blaspheming towards his 'favourite deity of choice'" ... :/

This ranges from Karl Marx in one end to OOP and Entity Framework in the other end - But hey, I'm not complaining, I kind of asked for it, right ...? :/

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

Thanks for answering sincerely, I apreciate that!

I guess it is exhausting, wouldn't want to be in your place if I'm honest.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

It's hard work, but at least it's work, and it provides for the family :)

However, 80+ hours per week, wearing 50+ hats, for 14 months and counting is challenging sometimes ...

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

I can believe that, at least your family is sorted and well (I hope)! why the hats though?

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

As the CEO of a startup you have to do everything ranging from running the company, hiring people, tutoring, coding and washing the toilet mate ... :/

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

Seems fair and necesary, at least in the begining... don't have experience being a CEO, but have very close contact with many and I know the struggles. Can be worth it in the end though

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

I missed the communist point, I don't think politics have anything to do here. I don't give a crap what you eat, but if you show us your d*ck we will comment on it...

who believes in that all business is ethically and morally wrong

I do not only think that, I know it is not ethical or moral in most cases, which as you stated in the other response it's probably the only way in the current state of society, but that doesn't mean it's correct. It's a shame but it is how it is

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen • Edited

I do not only think that, I know it is not ethical or moral in most cases

Edited - I've exclusively built my company upon "serving the underserved" (Open Source) - I beg to differ ... ;)

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

Lol, of course we do! We meet every 2 hours without exception xD you can join if you want

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Hahahaha :D

Now I feel sorry that I edited my original comment :D

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

That's a good reason and I can stand by it. But the execution and marketing are quite extreme as we mentioned in other comments, though probably necesary. Not that I agree or support it, but at least I understand the reason behind it now!

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

<3

 
nombrekeff profile image
Keff

Yaiks, my answer makes no sense now!

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

It can be our secret ;)

A secret club ... :D

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nombrekeff profile image
Keff

shh, they will know it exists, remember the first rule of the club! xD

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen • Edited

Hahaha, WHAT club ...? :D

I don't know you! Who are you?

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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Did you have anything to contribute with? Maybe an article, or a question? Maybe some enlightening comment at the very least ...?

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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Every single thing I wrote about was verified by other people commenting. Besides from that, we've got nothing to talk about ...

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

I feel you misunderstood what the term "10x developer" implies: one exceptional developer handling the work of 10 average developers - and in doing so, they can have no time to share knowledge, document, build teams, communicate and do all the stuff that distinguishes advanced development from advanced programming, ultimately delivering less than a 1x exceptional developer.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I'm a 10x developer, and that's 10% of my job. My primary job is being the CEO of the company, running in meetings, organising things, helping out my team members, talking with partners and clients, etc - Still I'm the top contributor to GitHub in the island of Cyprus (by far!). Respectfully, but you're wrong. I'm doing all of the above, plus more, in addition to being a 10x developer. In fact, I'm probably spending less than 20% of my time coding, yet still in that 20% I get to deliver 10x more value than the average software developer gets to do with 100% of his time.

Now of course, since the average software developer starts out most problems with the question; "How complex can I possibly implement this thing" this is probably not such a strange thing ...

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

Your beliefs about the average software developer betrays your arrogance and merely prove my point.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I once heard a story about two guys back in the 1980s who rewrote Unix in its entirety in a weekend. Linus Torvalds created Git in 10 months. Could you rewrite Unix in a weekend, or create Git in 10 months? Your arrogance betrays you my friend.

Just because you can't do something doesn't imply others can't do it. This was the purpose of the archer image in the middle of the post ...

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

You still misunderstand (that's probably the bad communication skills that I mentioned). I'm not saying it would be impossible to get that level of coding output - just that the result is not as much value as you believe it is. So you overvalue your own contribution and undervalue everyone else's, while comparing yourself to the likes of Linus Torvalds, Dennis Ritchie, Fabrice Bellard or John Carmack. I think it's clear who between us two is arrogant and who isnt.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen • Edited

What did I misunderstand? You mentioned that the result of the group as a whole was important, and I explained how 10x devs increases the group's ability to deliver as a whole, due to teaching their skills to others, etc - How is that bad communication skills? Besides, what does my communication skills have to do with things? Have you heard of ad hominem ...?

while comparing yourself to the likes of Linus Torvalds, Dennis Ritchie, Fabrice Bellard or John Carmack

Where did I do that? Yet again, ad hominem. Besides, even if I did, so what? Are these people like Jesus, as in the "sole son of God" or something? Whom we can never expect to be able to achieve on pair with? I started coding when I was 8 years old, I am 48 years old now. No offence, but if you were more interested in learning from those having gone the path before you you'd might prosper slightly more - Just sayin' ... :/

Besides, you realise that your mindset not only prohibits you from growing, but is also toxic in regards to your employer's ability to attract skilled workers?

Maybe if you were less jealous of those better than you, and more eager to learn from them, you'd become one of us sometime in the future ...? ;)

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

I'm not jealous of you, but that you would think that is just another sign that you are very probably actually a "10x developer", but still fail to understand the original meaning of the term.

I too started coding when I was 8 - and I'm 45 years old now. Still, I don't want to become one of "you" in the future. All that I hope for every day is to become a better developer than I was the day before. And that growth is much more important to me than being able to boast about the numbers of commits or LOCs I have contributed.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

It's not about LOC, if you had read the article you would understand that, since I am making that fact very clear.

Still, I don't want to become one of "you" in the future

OK, so how do you want the world to look like? Communism utopia where we're all equals in all regards? Race to bottom where we need to abandon walking because some of us are in wheel chairs, and we don't want to hurt their egos?

There are people in this world that can do amazing things, one of whom was linked into my article with a picture. I cannot do those things, but I can still appreciate that some can, and I enjoy the fact that such people exists.

I too started coding when I was 8 - and I'm 45 years old now

OK, no further explanation required ... :D

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joolsmcfly profile image
Julien Dephix

I think the pill would be easier to swallow if you didn’t brag about your accomplishments so much.

I worked with a guy who, from the first hour, bragged about how good he was (10x if you asked him), his amazing tools, questioned our use of Linux (β€œpeople will use Linux? Why?”), wanted to take over my role as lead dev etc. Cocky as hell and I couldn’t see myself spending another hour next to him. The next day he quit cos he didn’t want to be a mere pawn. Thanks for that.

Vibes I get from your posts remind me of him. That’s too bad cos you have interesting things to share but they’re overshadowed by cockiness.

Just be a quiet Nx developer and people that work with you will know what to replace N with, be it 10, 3 or 8.

That being said, I agree we should keep things simple and not use techs just because we can/want.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I think the pill would be easier to swallow if you didn’t brag about your accomplishments so much.

Might be. I'm not (only) bragging about my accomplishments though ...

That’s too bad cos you have interesting things to share but they’re overshadowed by cockiness.

Thank you. I wrote the article to stir up debate. Besides, my next article is arguably its punchline. In it I will barely mention myself ...

That being said, I agree we should keep things simple and not use techs just because we can/want.

Thank you :)

 
lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

[Do you want a c]ommunism[sic!] utopia where we're all equals in all regards? Race to bottom where we need to abandon walking because some of us are in wheel chairs, and we don't want to hurt their egos?

You seem to have no idea about Marx communism or wheel chair users' egos. First, the communist utopia I envision is not a race to bottom, but just bottom line secured so everyone has the security not to fall below to aim above that. The most genius developers I ever met were actually rather meek than boastful.

I'm not saying people cannot accomplish amazing feats, I've witnessed some of these myself, for example as antfu and patak created vitest in the course of ~2 months (and inspired a lot of other developers to join their project so that it could prosper even more). They don't see themselves as 10x developers, but they inspired more than 10 developers each. To me, that is worth more than 10 times more commits on github.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

You seem to have no idea about Marx communism

Hahahaha :D

Have a nice day mate ... ^_^

Psst, don't bother to explain it to me, I literally couldn't care less ... ;)

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ca55idy profile image
ca55idy

Got to be honest I've never known a single developer ask how complex they can implement something. I've worked with every level of developer from apprentice to staff senior, even CEO.

Of course you're going to believe you have and will only hire the greatest devs out there, you've got to justify yourself hiring them and paying their salaries

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

will only hire the greatest devs out there

The greatest devs never asks what their salary will become. They ask you about the product and the vision. If they believe in the vision, they'll work for free until you've got money to pay them ...

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

I partially agree with you on that one. Devs working for free is obviously just a manager's wet dream, we all have to pay the bills. However, I believe that great developers are in it rather for the interesting challenges and the meaning of their work than the other benefits. I know I am, as long as I don't have to worry about money, which luckily is the case.

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ca55idy profile image
ca55idy

Do your developers get taken on with no salary and a promise then? Or do they work in return for a salary that allows them to eat and keep a roof over their (and maybe their family's) heads?

I agree if a dev agrees with the vision and feels they are contributing to that vision, then so long as they also feel that contribution is appreciated they will take a lot and fight through the bad times, but they will grow wary if they don't feel that appreciation or compensation in some way.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I worked on Magic for free for a decade. I pay my crew today though, but it wouldn't even exist without that initial investment by me, for reasons I explain in my latest article

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ca55idy profile image
ca55idy

Working on your own project for free is a little different to others working on your project for free, especially if it is their main occupation

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

It was an exaggeration, but the point is still valid. A software developer who starts out the interview with asking about salary, is about as valuable as sand in the machine ...

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

And we're back to disagreement. If developers wants to make sure that they won't have to think more about money then they do about code on their new job, that's A-OK in my book. It also doesn't automatically follow that they are only in for the money if they ask about it first.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

We ask the most important questions first. If the first question is how much money will I be making, it shows the priorities of the individual ...

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lexlohr profile image
Alex Lohr

Or you first want to get the bottom line out of the way, so you can either stop wasting your time with an interview for a company that wants you to think about money issues rather than about code or otherwise get to the interesting part.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I fundamentally disagree, but that's OK, we don't need to agree on everything ...

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ca55idy profile image
ca55idy

I don't apply for apply to jobs advertised without a salary, and I find even then the first question a recruiter asks is "what is your salary expectation?" and later on in the process if all is going well "what's the minimum they need to offer for me to be able to provisionally accept any offer I receive on your behalf".

Doesn't matter how much you believe in the vision if you can't put food on the table, or a roof over your head...more importantly if you can't do these things for your family. Any one in the real world understands that, belief in the vision or not.

And no, other than the two points money is required for above I do not do this job for the money.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I worked for free on Magic for a decade. If you don't agree with me, that's perfectly fine, but don't apply for a job with us unless you do agree ... ;)

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ca55idy profile image
ca55idy

Don't worry, after reading a few of your articles I wouldn't want to :D

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Hehe :D

Mission accomplished ;)

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bias profile image
Tobias Nickel

you know what I see here?I do not see a 10x developer. I do not want to dought the ability and effectiveness of the developer.

but in the CRM project you describe, I see that this is a typical 1/10 development project. Let me guess, in the project you did not even have clear defined requirements. of cause, developers, as they need a job, will just work on that project, and argue, and do stuff, just not very directed. what is likely not even the developers fault.

?

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Kind of. I write about it in my waterfall article ...

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joelbonetr profile image
JoelBonetR πŸ₯‡

Reading the first couple of paragraphs I thought you were paid by kilograms of code πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Hahahaha :D

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peerreynders profile image
peerreynders

I could create a new CRM system every single day, 7 days of the week, 52 weeks per year if you asked me to … We're here to create 10x developers, manufacture them at pure will, like grapes during season.

… by becoming an assembly line worker?

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

by becoming an assembly line worker?

Yup ^_^

Nothing wrong in that. Andy Warhol was an "assembly line worker". He created Marilyn Monroe in 2 minutes. Leonardo DaVinci wasn't even able to finish Mona Lisa in 13 years, and died before the painting was finished. Then compare Mona Lisa to Marilyn Monroe ignoring the monetary value, and come and tell me Mona Lisa is not a piece of garbage compared to Marilyn Monroe ...

I'd rather be an assembly line worker creating brilliance every 2 minutes, than a "creative genius" spending 13 years on creating garbage ... :/

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peerreynders profile image
peerreynders

You'd be creating the same brilliance every 2 minutes.

Copying files is a solved problem in information technology.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

I beg to differ mate. Click "Follow" on my profile, and I'll prove you wrong in my next article ... ;)

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peerreynders profile image
peerreynders

FYI: Using Andy Warhol in this context could backfire in so many ways…

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

80% of software developers in Silicon Valley may be autistic according to a study I saw almost a decade ago. Nothing wrong with being on the spectrum. I'm arguably there myself ... :)

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peerreynders profile image
peerreynders

Well, if that is true you are well on your way to further antagonising the non-ASD population; something the ASD community, as far as I can tell, isn't interested in. One could say that you're weaponizing neural-configuration which doesn't really benefit anyone.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

What can I say? "He started" ...? :D

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

Where's your ambition? Don't you want to be an 11x developer?

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Hahahaha :D

I'm trying mate, I'm trying ^_^

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pyrsmk profile image
AurΓ©lien Delogu

Humility.

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joolsmcfly profile image
Julien Dephix

10x ego much? :D

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

Normally you'd be right, if it wasn't for that I bring forth my team mates too, in addition to that we've created a tool that allows us to churn out 10x developers almost the same way an assembly line churns out its stuff. However, I laughed :D

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brense profile image
Rense Bakker

I'm going to make 15 commits every 10ms until github blocks me, does that make me a 100x developer?

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen

A guy did that actually to beat my record at GitHub for Cyprus. I think he created a bot that committed 1,500 times per day and let it run every day until he had 28,000 commits in total. I probably wouldn't hire him myself, but you're of course free to do so if you wish ... ^_^

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brense profile image
Rense Bakker

Great, so we agree that the number of commits says absolutely jackshit about whether you're a good developer or not.

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen
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brense profile image
Rense Bakker

You didnt say lines of code, you said commits. You cannot use lines of code as a pure metric either though. You still have to look at what lines of codes have changed. I can change a lot of code that introduce a huge amount of bugs into the code, that does not make me a good productive developer.

When I get started on an existing project I use the loc metric to find out which people to talk to. The people who changed the most lines of code usually have the best overview of the project. That still does not mean they're good developers though.

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xuwupeng2000 profile image
Jack Wu

Seriously I am a 20x developer.

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ecyrbe profile image
ecyrbe

So in conclusion, X10 developpers produce /10 products 😁!