This matrix is a bunch of crap. The ability to "get things done" is the most important factor of programmer competency. Every thing else is incidental.
Not true. Getting "things done" while creating an O(N^2) solution, in spaghetti code, to a problem that's already well solved by an external library is horrible.
Using your argument:
Mcdonalds, Starbucks, Walmart, Coke and many other companies are O(N^2) solutions and therefore failures. They repackaged an existing idea, made slight modifications, and sold it for lots of money.
I hate seeing wasted money and stupid solutions succeed like the next guy and maybe we're talking about different things. But whether things got done should be decided by the customer not your TDD fanatic coworker.
I tentatively agree because these things can be showstoppers, but it really depends. I've seen PhDs who can't tie their shoes. Theoretical knowledge is useless in production software if you don't know how to apply it, and yet without it you will be greatly limited in the scope of systems you can build.
I used to believe that too, but I've changed my mind.
Now, I'll always prefer clean organized code, even if it doesn't work. I can always hire someone or jump in myself and make the changes that are necessary.
It is safer to assume that all code is broken in some way. E.g. If someone says that code "works", what they usually mean is that the software is broken in ways that they doesn't understand. When someone says a system is "secure", it means that it contains vulnerabilities that they haven't yet discovered.
A pessimistic attitude, but it has served me well.
Sometimes a decision can be made to accrue technical debt or to keep paying the interest on the acquired "technical debt rather than the principal. However, the decision has to be made by someone who understands what an elegant solution would look like (if time or budget restrains aren't there).
That's why you need somebody who is both smart (can see the elegant solution) and gets thing done (will ship a minimally acceptable solution and re-factor when needed).
You sound just like my old pointy haired boss. I'll do with you, what I did with him. I'm going to roll my eyes and call you names when you talk to me, because I know you're too dumb to do my job and smart enough to know that.
Ideally a patent like that should be denied ( or can be challenged in court) based on prior art. Prior art refers to documentation of an idea prior to a patent filing. So for example a person would not be able to patent an idea that was described in an a magazine , newspaper , or academic paper, before the patent was applied for.
If you want to patent something, use it more as a defense mechanism, so that other people can't claim that you stole their idea.
Hope that helps.
This article completely misses the point. I want to know how many of the non-H1B workers at Microsoft used to be H1B's. And how about finding out percentage of engineers at all these companies. And personally I am so sick of hearing all these BS stories of H1B's stealing American jobs with low wages. I used to be on H1B and I made (and still do) more that all my friends who are American citizens or green card holders. I have green card now, and that hasnt affected my pay in any way.
