> The 10x programmer is a silly myth. The idea that someone can produce in 1 day what another competent, hard working, similarly experienced programmer can produce in 2 weeks is silly.
N× programmers for N>1 are mostly not N× cowboy solo code slingers, lots of gains are in enabling other members of the team.
The idea that programmer contributions to output are all in solo code slinging is a close cousin of the myth “programmer contributions can meaningfully be measured in lines of code”.
At some point, you start to become effective not by churning out code faster than anyone else can do it, but by anticipating upcoming blockers and clearing them out before they become a problem for the team. You're able to use a holistic insight of the project to your advantage in order to keep the team's efficacy to a high level.
N× programmers for N>1 are mostly not N× cowboy solo code slingers, lots of gains are in enabling other members of the team.
The idea that programmer contributions to output are all in solo code slinging is a close cousin of the myth “programmer contributions can meaningfully be measured in lines of code”.