

Ask HN: What makes a programmer a rockstar? - meesterdude

Curious what attributes people feel represents such a person. Also, do rockstars equal 10x&#x27;ers?
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rubiquity
A programmer that is also a member of a really successful rock band. No person
possessing both of these attributes walks the earth, yet. It is widely rumored
that Steven Tyler might be interested in HTML, however. We will have to see
how this develops.

~~~
lgieron
AFAIR Jonny Greenwood (from Radiohead) said in an interview that he himself
wrote a lot of the synthetizers that the band uses.

~~~
Marinlemaignan
The guys from Propellerheads made Reason
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLT6_TQmq8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLT6_TQmq8)
[https://www.propellerheads.se/reason](https://www.propellerheads.se/reason)
Not saying i'm a big fan of the soft...

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codeonfire
Terms like rockstar, 10xer, or ninja are meant to flatter people and not
describe attributes. Employers want to filter workers who will work to their
own detriment for several reasons. They want people who are susceptible to
flattery and are not very experienced in employment. They want people who will
work nights and weekends as well. So I guess those are two attributes of a
rockstar or 10xer. Most people on HN already know this because they're true
rockstars and 10x'ers ;).

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baccheion
Someone is a rockstar if they are good at what they do. They make the job seem
easy, always does things properly, and frequently wow you with their
brilliance and ingenuity. Around them, there's constant motion.

Management will consider you a rockstar if you make them look good, help them
win politically, look the part, talk the talk, and feed them the BS they want
to hear.

Hiring managers and recruiters will say they are looking for a rockstar (which
they'll try to make seem like the first definition) and call you a rockstar if
they're trying to hire you in for a crap role, and think stroking your ego and
bending the truth will get it done.

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mtmail
Just like 'ninja' is a marketing word. It probably means the person loves
their job and makes it their passion and others think that person is so good
at what he/she does that they admire him/her. I wouldn't read too much into
it. The wording is often chosen so the job ad sounds young, cool and hip (and
the same founders might present themselves in suits in all public photos to
appear more serious).

You're right, in reality the companies are looking for humble 10x programmers
who get their job done without much fuss. Bonus points if the person is cool
to hang out with outside work.

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trcollinson
When I think of "rockstar" or "10x'er" engineers I think of Fabrice Ballard.
The idea of rockstar and 10x'er are both mostly buzz words to make developers
feel real good about themselves. Many people would put Fabrice in this
category, though he probably wouldn't put himself into the category at all.
Regardless here are a few traits he has which make him amazing.

He puts a constant level of effort into everything he does. Not an insane
level of effort, just constant.

He is very knowledgeable about his craft. He constantly expands on what he
knows within his area of expertise.

He does not attempt to know about everything. He stays with technologies he
knows and understands and this allows him to have deep knowledge and to stick
with his consistent level of effort.

Finally, he seems to try to know what he doesn't know. Again, by knowing what
he doesn't know he can stay focuses, keep a consistent level or effort, and
gain deep knowledge.

Whether these will make you a rockstar, I have no idea. But I can say that by
living by these principles you can become a really exceptional engineer.

~~~
krapp
>The idea of rockstar and 10x'er are both mostly buzz words to make developers
feel real good about themselves.

Specifically in the former case, young naive developers.

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nhtechie
I have a hypothesis on this... what happens when a Rockstar enters a room?

* People recognize them

* A crowd forms around them

* People ask to take photos with them

* They get paid huge amounts of money just to show up somewhere

* They get standing ovations at conferences

So just apply that to software developers. I have known two or three software
developers that fit that criteria in my life and a half dozen CEOs that fit
that criteria.

What does that have to do with being good at your job? Nothing, except maybe
that to get to Rockstar status you must be well known in the community and
probably did something worthy of it.

On the other hand, I have known a lot of 10x developers. Very few of whom met
the rockstar criteria.

Rockstars are called rockstars in the music world because they are famous and
usually really talented. So that's the defnition I go by for developers. __

 __I 'm not sure people writing job description feel the same way.

[edited for spacing on the list]

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Terr_
The exact same thing as with musicians and vocalists: Fame.

It seldom matters how it was acquired, or what you believe about the intrinsic
or marginal value of their work... At a minimum it is self-referential:
They're famous because they're famous because...

Trying to attach virtues to programmer-fame is just as pointless as trying to
do it with musicians. Do you really want a programming-version of Justin
Bieber working on your codebase? Why or why not?

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loumf
Are you asking for yourself or because you want to hire them? If you want to
hire them, it's best that you completely forget about this mindset.

If you are asking for yourself, strive to be a an improving professional, and
realize that many people who accomplish more also work more (at work or on
their own).

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lightblade
Excellent question!

To me, rockstar does not equal to 10xer. Rockstar does not necessarily perform
better, but they have gained enough (positive) reputation within their domain
that they now have fans.

In other words, hiring rockstars means you get to hire their fans easier. It's
a personal network thing.

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xkcd-sucks
Richard Stallman

[https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/m/#!msg/myso...](https://groups.google.com/a/mysociety.org/forum/m/#!msg/mysociety-
community/zkyZpOXjgoQ/_8xyXSxv9zYJ)

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jeffehobbs
Cubicle strobe lights, smoke machine(s).

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jcoffland
One who gets shit done.

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FabianBeiner
The HR department.

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gumballhead
Groupies

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dmishe
smart and gets shit done

