Are some programmers indeed ten times more productive than others, as some people claim? To a shocking degree, the answer depends on what exactly the question is intended to mean. In this chapter, we will work our way toward this insight by way of a fictious dialogue that is based on actual programming research data.
Alice: “I’ve heard the claim that ‘Some programmers are ten times as productive as others.’ Sounds a bit exaggerated to me. Do you happen to have data on this?”
Bob: “Indeed I do.” (Bob is an evidence buff.) ...
