The Superstar developer

What is a superstar developer? Is it a developer that knows all (not possible), is it a developer that can complete any task regardless of complexity or is it simply a designation given to developers that live on coffee and no sleep? If you ask recruiters about how they define a superstar you will get as many different answers as recruiters asked.

A superstar developer, in my opinion, is in no way shape or form just a subject matter expert (SME). Just knowing a technology does not make you special, it just makes you a really knowledgeable developer. You will commonly see the following types of developers, those whose knowledge is a mile long and an inch deep and those whose knowledge is an inch long but a mile deep. Neither of these are characteristics of a superstar developer.

You could dedicate your life to the mastery of a particular technology or process, there is no harm in that and in fact, the industry needs more masters than ever. There too many developers that are jacks of all trades, making silly mistakes that should no longer be made. Case in point, ever hear of SQL injection attacks, yes, they still happen in 2017. But I digress.

Knowledge is not intelligence, it is data retention. And simply being able to respond to questions just as quickly as google can, does not make you a superstar. Experience does not make you a great developer either, it only provides you with solutions to permutations of different problem/solution pairs.

In my opinion, a true superstar developer is one that keeps one foot firmly in the real human business world because engineering is a cross section of science and economics. It is very easy to believe that all problems can be solved with technology, the reality is much more complex because technology is just a tool that helps you solve the problem in conjunction with people and business.

Do you aspire to be the ill-defined “superstar developer”? It is imperative that you understand and accept the economics of software development. Look at the craft you have decided to dedicate your life to through the eyes of a non-technologist. This change in perspective will only benefit your career aspirations as you will become the person who gets it!