

What Makes A Great Software Engineer? (2015) [pdf] - azhenley
http://faculty.washington.edu/ajko/papers/Li2015GreatEngineers.pdf

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azhenley
Abstract: Good software engineers are essential to the creation of good
software. However, most of what we know about software-engineering expertise
are vague stereotypes, such as 'excellent communicators' and 'great
teammates'. The lack of specificity in our understanding hinders researchers
from reasoning about them, employers from identifying them, and young
engineers from becoming them. Our understanding also lacks breadth: what are
all the distinguishing attributes of great engineers (technical expertise and
beyond)? We took a first step in addressing these gaps by interviewing 59
experienced engineers across 13 divisions at Microsoft, uncovering 53
attributes of great engineers. We explain the attributes and examine how the
most salient of these impact projects and teams. We discuss implications of
this knowledge on research and the hiring and training of engineers.

