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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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO

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

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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 AINIRO.IO • 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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO

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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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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO • 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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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 AINIRO.IO

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

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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 AINIRO.IO

Hahahaha :D

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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 AINIRO.IO

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

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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO

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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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 AINIRO.IO

Hahahaha :D

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

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Julien Dephix

10x ego much? :D

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polterguy profile image
Thomas Hansen AINIRO.IO

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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pyrsmk profile image
AurΓ©lien Delogu

Humility.

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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 AINIRO.IO

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 AINIRO.IO
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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 😁!