Retired programmer. "Telling a programmer there's already a library to do X is like telling a songwriter there's already a song about love."--P.Cordell.
Retired programmer. "Telling a programmer there's already a library to do X is like telling a songwriter there's already a song about love."--P.Cordell.
@idriss makes sense. The 80-20 rule might apply here. A good programmer knows where to spend their time. I've been kicking this around with an old boss and we don't have any firm ideas. A metric should be quantifiable, but your interest & care gets into self actualization. Maybe a version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs for software developers?
I am also thinking the word "good" was a bad choice. It's too subjective and has a negative implication for anyone to the left side of the bell curve. Competent programmers are a thing and I suspect they actually keep most things running smoothly.
I wish I had my old copy of Weinberg's The Psychology of Computer Programming. It's been decades since I read it so I don't recall if it addressed this sort of question, but it might suggest something.