Maybe what John is getting at is while a Principal can do that for a while, at some point their tech chops will get out of date and rusty, both in terms of industry knowledge and the company’s internal stack and best practices. At that point they may lose the respect of more junior engineers, which is a poor sign for company culture.
A senior IC that codes can stay relevant longer. The act of coding forces you to keep up.
A senior IC that codes can stay relevant longer. The act of coding forces you to keep up.