What it takes: my thoughts on how to become a great programmer

I have always said this: "You show me a kid who knows how to create with Lego and I will show you a kid I can turn into a great programmer"

Lego is the best coder test I know. You have to be able to envision the final goal, you have to know how to assemble that vision using the limited component pieces available, you have to know how to work around the tool's limitations, and above all you have love to create.

I think those qualities are just a few of the things in talented hackers that also make them naturally strong entrepreneurs too.

Tenacity, creativity, and a love for solving problems and building things...

I haven't found anything much better than this: http://www.indiangeek.net/wp-content/uploads/Programmer%20co...

I expected to see something great coming from the Software Craftsmanship movement, but their idea of being a great programmer is basically using XP, and satisfying customer requirements, with no surprises. To me that is just being an average professional programmer.

Ouch, I think all of these miss the mark. They just lead to solving problems and writing great code. But those aren't the mark of a great programmer, just a good programmer as they don't imply that they build things of worth.

Great programmers build things that mean something, and they build them well.

The bottom line is great programmers care. They care for their mission, their users, and their craft.

I would like to see something about testing capabilities of a great programmer.