The application of brute force is a skill, if you were successful with it. It shows you had the good judgement to apply the right kind of brute force to the right problem, and then the persistence, and the confidence in yourself, to see it through.
I would say that brute force is absolutely a skill. Your point about developers Y and X is kind of interesting, though. I think both types of developers are important. I read an anecdote here or at reddit that mentioned a couple of coders that worked together, one who had the idea and a creative method of implementation and the other who enjoyed bludgeoning out the hardest, mind-numbing parts of the code that are required in a true finished product.
The trick is identifying who is who, and assigning tasks appropriately.
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> the application of brute force instead of skill
The application of brute force is a skill, if you were successful with it. It shows you had the good judgement to apply the right kind of brute force to the right problem, and then the persistence, and the confidence in yourself, to see it through.
This was going to by my question, is brute force a skill? Who is better off,
Y = person who can brute force a problem, and solve it 100% of the time but takes Z amount of time/effort to do so
X= person who can elegantly solve a problem quickly W% of the time, but gives up very quickly if problems arise
when does
Y * Z < X * W
and
Y * Z > X * W
(solve for all variables)
I would say that brute force is absolutely a skill. Your point about developers Y and X is kind of interesting, though. I think both types of developers are important. I read an anecdote here or at reddit that mentioned a couple of coders that worked together, one who had the idea and a creative method of implementation and the other who enjoyed bludgeoning out the hardest, mind-numbing parts of the code that are required in a true finished product.
The trick is identifying who is who, and assigning tasks appropriately.