Richard, >a pen. All were able to produce code that did something tangible within the >time, which is all we asked for. They worked hard and fast that's for sure!
I wonder how their performance compared to people who were given lots of time to complete the task. There is a general assumption that more time results in higher quality programs. At some amount of elapsed time the quality difference should be lost in the noise. >I don't believe in 'real' programmers as such. 'real' is often taken to mean high quality. I guess studies ought to be done using average developers and I have no idea what the characteristics of such a developer are. > I think maybe there are >different kinds good at different tasks. I am particularly interested in >sole authors - they have to conceive the product, design it and code it on >their own. Obviously, their programming style and working habits are going >to be a lot different from the team player, or system programmers. While sole authors often claim that the reason they work on their own is because it is more efficient and they usually have a higher regard for their own ability than the abilities of others. While some sole authors are very much better than average, many are simply social misfits who have great difficulty working with others. In my experience the style of sole authors usually dates from when they started to program. Working by themselves means they have limited exposure to different ways of doing things. Also people stuck in a rut will often only change when they are forced to and working on your own reduces the likelihood of such forces occurring. derek -- Derek M Jones tel: +44 (0) 1252 520 667 Knowledge Software Ltd mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Applications Standards Conformance Testing http://www.knosof.co.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PPIG Discuss List ([email protected]) Discuss admin: http://limitlessmail.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss Announce admin: http://limitlessmail.net/mailman/listinfo/announce PPIG Discuss archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/
