I'm curious about what was the technology stack for that project. Also, it would be very interesting to learn what those ">250x" programmers think on various languages / technology stacks (that they use) from the developer productivity perspective ...
This was in the '90s, so pre-'98 C++, on a proprietary OS fielded by Siemens and Ericsson.
The stacks in use today optimize for accessibility by less skilled programmers, and (more) for heavy requirements on management participation and total head count. Productivity is a non-goal. A 250x programmer would be distinctly unwelcome almost everywhere, today, although there are still more places that want one than are available to hire. I spoke recently with someone who spent time at Walmart corporate, and got in deep, deep trouble for finishing in a week a project scheduled to take 12.
Dan Luu explains on his blog how little value his employers have placed on his contributions that earned or saved them hundreds or thousands of times his salary for the time he spent. Managers mostly value what improves their standing among other managers, not what benefits the company.
Doing what benefits society or the world gets you escorted out without severance pay.
Comments
I'm curious about what was the technology stack for that project. Also, it would be very interesting to learn what those ">250x" programmers think on various languages / technology stacks (that they use) from the developer productivity perspective ...
This was in the '90s, so pre-'98 C++, on a proprietary OS fielded by Siemens and Ericsson.
The stacks in use today optimize for accessibility by less skilled programmers, and (more) for heavy requirements on management participation and total head count. Productivity is a non-goal. A 250x programmer would be distinctly unwelcome almost everywhere, today, although there are still more places that want one than are available to hire. I spoke recently with someone who spent time at Walmart corporate, and got in deep, deep trouble for finishing in a week a project scheduled to take 12.
Dan Luu explains on his blog how little value his employers have placed on his contributions that earned or saved them hundreds or thousands of times his salary for the time he spent. Managers mostly value what improves their standing among other managers, not what benefits the company.
Doing what benefits society or the world gets you escorted out without severance pay.
I much appreciate your comment. This is all very interesting and very weird (or even quite scary), at the same time.