t e c h i e - t a l k s ::: technology at its best

How do you actually recognize a good computer programmer? By looking at his/her CV? Looking at the companies he/she had worked for and the projects he/she was involved in? It could be a daunting task, to pick a good programmer from a pool of competent programmers (like picking a needle from a haystack — just that you’d find it difficult to differentiate between a needle and a hay) and especially so if you are a biz guy.

In an article about noticing good programmers by Daniel Tenner, he believes that CVs tells only half the full story and that good programmers usually don’t have a colourful CV.

“CV experience is only of limited use here, because great programmers don’t always have the ‘official’ experience to demonstrate that they’re great. In fact, a lot of that CV experience can be misleading,” he adds. “Yet there are a number of subtle cues that you can get, even from the CV, to figure out whether someone’s a great programmer.”

In his list of what makes a good programmer, these are the positive aspects that you should look for when looking for a programmer:

• Passionate about technology
• Programs as a hobby
• Will talk your ear off on a technical subject if encouraged
• Significant (and often numerous) personal side-projects over the years
• Learns new technologies on his/her own
• Opinionated about which technologies are better for various usages
• Very uncomfortable about the idea of working with a technology he doesn’t believe to be “right”
• Clearly smart, can have great conversations on a variety of topics
• Started programming long before university/work
• Has some hidden “icebergs,” large personal projects under the CV radar
• Knowledge of a large variety of unrelated technologies (may not be on CV)

Good programmers don’t have to be geniuses but they should be smart, creative and a flare in problem solving. A good sign of smart would be a programmer who has mastered several, if not many, programming languages.

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