# The 10x Programmer as a Design and Implementation Concept DevFeed: [The 10x Programmer as a Design and Implementation Concept]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2017-02-28T11:08:42Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Antirez]() Topics: [coding](), [Programming](), [Code]() Tags: [coding](), [opinion](), [programming]() ## AI overview The article examines the debated idea of the 10x programmer. It argues that programming combines design and implementation, so experience, coding ability, knowledge, and the recognition of unnecessary work can reinforce one another rather than provide merely linear advantages. It also notes that rigid tasks and prescribed tools reduce this potential advantage. ## Source excerpt A 10x programmer is, in the mythology of programming, a programmer that can do ten times the work of another normal programmer, where for normal programmer we can imagine one good at doing its work, but without the magical abilities of the 10x programmer. Actually to better characterize the "normal programmer" it is better to say that it represents the one having the average programming output, among the programmers that are professionals in this discipline. The programming community is extremely polarized about the existence or not of such a beast: who says there is no such a thing as the 10x programmer, who says it actually does not just exist, but there are even 100x programmers if you know where to look for. If you see programming as a "linear" discipline, it is clear that the 10x programmer looks like an irrational possibility. How can a runner run 10x faster than another one? Or a construction worker build 10x the things another worker can build in the same time? However programming is a design discipline, in a very special way. Even when a programmer does not participate in the actual architectural design of a program, the act of implementing it still requires a sub-design of the implementation strategy. So if the design and implementation of a program are not linear abilities, things like experience, coding abilities, knowledge, recognition of useless parts, are, in my opinion, not just linear advantages, they work together in a multiplicative way in the act of creating a program. Of course this phenomenon happens much more when a programmer can both handle the design and the implementation of a program. The more "goal oriented" is the task, the more a potential 10x programmer can exploit her/his abilities in order to reach the goal with a lot less efforts. When the task at hand is much more rigid, with specific guidelines about what tools to use and how to implement things, the ability of a 10x programmer to perform a lot of work in less time is weakened: i