Discussion on: How Do You Know A Developer Is Doing A Good Job?

I adhere to the Spolsky: "Good developers are Smart and Get Things done."

I further adhere to the Yegge: "Great developers are Done, Get things Smart"

Basically can you say yes to this question with respect to the person?

S/he delivered production-quality stuff on time that was easy to understand and modify, and I look forward to working with him/her again.

If so, do your best to keep them. If not, work to develop where they're weak.

That encompasses:

• Hard skills: Design, development, implementation, infrastructure, tooling.
• Soft skills: S/he is not a flaming ass, and can build consensus and work with a team.
• Product skills: S/he can understand, prioritize, and deliver.