February 02, 2011

TMTC 47 – What is an Expert?

26 minutes

I've been reading the Software Craftsmanship mailing list where they were discussing whether software is a craft. Someone brought up the concept of what makes a “Master Craftsman” in software and I started thinking about how to determine if someone is an expert or master.

There are a few concepts out there including these:

Someone who has read at least 3 books on a subject.

Someone who knows more about a subject than someone else.

Someone who has published something on a topic.

As discussed in Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware (Pragmatic Programmers)

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