In my experience, the “10x” developers are just doing their job.
Maybe we should focus on the dev/10 people, they just make people who are gitting stuff done look amazing.
The reality is a subset of engineers are just better, quicker and faster. They known things and can do things faster.
I have worked a verity of teams. However gross it is to you the person pulling in 30k of line of code in a complex system in 3 weeks is definitely something more than the average developer.
I know I know. Everybody is going now pile on with some crazy assumptions about code quality shit. Let me stop you. You were not there, the code was amazing and the code ran rock solid.
Also this was not a one off. Every project I worked with this person simply was the same way. 15 min sync, 3 days later amazing features, 90%+ unit test coverage, all while doing 9-5 and cooking dinner for her family after destroying that PR button.
So whatever you want to call them, they exist, and they are likely better than you in every metric you can measure.
The fact is, that for many young people, programming has been “realtor boom” for many years. I’ve been actively involved with my faith’s various youth group offerings over the years, and I have watched a lot of young people I have known grow up and head down various paths, only to pivot from all kinds of career aspirations to software development. They connect with me because I’m an old timer in the same industry as them now. But very few of them “get into it” the way I have for my career. It’s a well paying job that has relatively low entry cost (either degreed or boot camped) and allows them to support their youthful adventures or aspirations to start families.
There are some in the younger generation that get it.
I had an intern last cycle that just consumed this stuff. It was like I was talking to a younger me. She knew things about the company I worked at I did not know.
Anytime I was explaining anything about how to solve problems or how something should work, she would just listen and ask good questions. Next thing you knew she was using whatever we just talked about.
I'm curious how you bifurcate between the two general types in a mentoring/internship relations. As an enthusiast programmer, I connect well with the "diamond in the rough" young enthusiasts. But the here-for-the-job types have been really difficult for me in intern relationships. There's an ingredient that I take for granted in the enthusiast-enthusiast relationship. I'm not going to pick up the slack in a enthusiast-9to5 relationship. I think the relationship just needs to be structured differently, but I haven't figured that out yet (feel free to reach out via email).
To write 30k lines of code in 3 weeks, you're averaging 2k lines/day. At 8 hour days, that's 250 lines/hour. 6 lines/minute. 1 line of code every 10 seconds, for 8 hours straight, for 3 weeks straight. It's definitely possible to type that fast, but I can't imagine what programming that way would feel like.
Anyone can be a 10x engineer, it's just that the majority prefer mediocrity. If you chose to be less than you can be that's on you not the people who improved themselves.
Your first statement is true. But the Ratatouille quote applies here; "Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist can come from anywhere"
The majority don't prefer mediocrity. That's all they really can do. We just don't know which of the majority actually has the mythical 10x ability that easily.
No, the majority are not prepared for the absolute obliteration of their ego they will suffer to become a 10x engineer. The problem isn't one of time, ability or whatever ineffable quality, but one of character. Ironically enough I think that a boot camp with the emotional abuse the marines used to get in the 50s while going through Knuth's papers would produce a lot of 10x programmers.
None of the 10x engineers I know (maybe some are 5x) try that hard. They didn't need to be abused. They were just naturally good at coding. I don't believe you can abuse someone into 10x abilities.
I meant more the term 10x engineer and what it's come to stand for over the years.
If we're just talking about the simple root premise some people are 10x more effective / efficient or simply deliver 10x the output at the same or better quality - sure yes I absolutely know those people and while I wouldn't consider myself one of them I certainly tend to get a lot more done than the average engineer I work with.
However - I don't agree with you that _anyone_ can be 10x "better" than the average person as I regularly encounter people that do not have innate logic and troubleshooting skills nor the curiosity required. I do agree that plenty of folks are content with mediocrity - most of them have ended up in "enterprise" companies.
Then you did not chose to be a 10x engineer. The same way you probably are only mediocre in your hobbies (unless you quit your job and focused on that only)
Don’t be sad. It’s okay that other people do something better than you. Be happy you play disc golf, but the 10x engineer makes more PRs than you. Which do you want more.
What I hear is you envy somebody else choices, and want to vilify them because you can’t compete with them because you made different life choices.
It’s like you are mad that Serena Williams did so much better than you did, but you only played tennis on the weekends with your friend.
True. Now this is where ymmv but time away from the screen and sleep, while slowing down productivity this week is better long term. Not because it is healthy (it is) but programming in a nonlinear endeavour. During downtime you can realize the thing you are even working on is not the best thing. Or reevaluate overall strategy.
Then you're not a 10x engineer and will be filling out your hours in SAP and getting your tickets from Jira.
Personally that sounds like a new circle of hell but I've had people ask me to bring back Jira for a project I was managing so there are truly all kinds.
All the 10x engineers I have come across in my life often had the most non engineering hobbies and after work activities going on. They are like that kid in school who never needs to study to get an A and for whom things just click immediately.
I think we can be honest that neither extreme is correct here.
A lot of people choose to be mediocre developers, but likewise a lot of people try very hard to be good but simply don't have the cognitive capacity or organization to excel.
A trend I've noticed is that people that use words like "gross" tend to use arguments driven by emotion rather than logic.
The "argument" in that link is a complete strawman. If they are a "10x engineer" but actually make people less productive because their code sucks they aren't actually a "10x engineer".
*Edit - to clarify I meant what it represented, of course some people nX times more effective/efficient/higher output than others.