jolene wang's List: IT Developing

 
8. Dead Programmer  

   This is the highest level. Your code has survived and transcended your death.  You are a part of the permanent historical record of computing. Other  programmers study your work and writing. You may have won a Turing Award, or  written influential papers, or invented one or more pieces of fundamental  technology that have affected the course of programming as we know it. You don't  just have a wikipedia entry -- there are entire websites dedicated to studying  your life and work.  

   Very few programmers ever achieve this level in their own lifetimes.  

   Examples: Dijkstra, Knuth, Kay  

    
7. Successful Programmer  

   Programmers who are both well known and have created entire businesses --  perhaps even whole industries -- around their code. These programmers have given  themselves the real  freedom zero: the freedom to decide for themselves what they want to work  on. And to share that freedom with their fellow programmers.  

   This is the level to which most programmers should aspire. Getting to this  level often depends more on business skills than programming.  

   Examples: Gates, Carmack, DHH  

    
6. Famous Programmer  

   This is also a good place to be, but not unless you also have a day job.  

   You're famous in programming circles. But being famous doesn't necessarily  mean you can turn a profit and support yourself. Famous is good, but  successful is better. You probably work for a large, well known  technology company, an influential small company, or you're a part of a modest  startup team. Either way, other programmers have heard of you, and you're having  a positive impact on the field.  

    
5. Working Programmer  

   You have a successful career as a software developer. Your skills are always  in demand and you never have to look very long or hard to find a great job. Your  peers respect you. Every company you work with is improved and enriched in some  way by your presence.  

   But where do you go from there?  

    
4. Average Programmer  

   At this level you are a good enough programmer to realize that you're not a  great programmer. And you might never be.  

   Talent often has little do do with success. You can be very successful if you  have business and people skills. If you are an average programmer but manage to  make a living at it then you are talented, just not necessarily at  coding.  

   Don't knock the value of self-awareness. It's more rare than you realize.  There's nothing wrong with lacking talent. Be bold. Figure out what you're good  at, and pursue it. Aggressively.  

    
3. Amateur Programmer  

   An amateur programmer loves to code, and it shows: they might be a promising  student or intern, or perhaps they're contributing to open source projects, or  building interesting "just for fun" applications or websites in their spare  time. Their code and ideas show promise and enthusiasm.  

   Being an amateur is a good thing; from this level one can rapidly rise to  become a working programmer.  

    
2. Unknown Programmer  

   The proverbial typical programmer. Joe Coder. Competent (usually) but  unremarkable. Probably works for a large, anonymous MegaCorp. It's just a job,  not their entire life. Nothing wrong with that, either.  

    
1. Bad Programmer  

   People who somehow fell into the programmer role without an iota of skill or  ability. Everything they touch turns into pain and  suffering for their fellow programmers -- with the possible exception of  other Bad Programmers, who lack even the rudimentary skill required to  tell that they're working with another Bad Programmer.  

   Which is, perhaps, the hallmark of all Bad Programmers. These people have no  business writing code of any kind -- but they do, anyway.

These levels aren't entirely serious. Not every programmer aspires to the  same things in their career. But it's illuminating to consider what a programmer  could accomplish in ten years, twenty years, or thirty years -- perhaps  even a lifetime. Which notable programmers  do you admire the most? What did they accomplish to earn your admiration?