Regarding Dijkstra, Knuth Kay:
quoteVery few programmers ever achieve this level in their own lifetimes./quote
Oh, and s/Gates/Torvalds/.
Thanks, I needed a label. Now I know my place in society. LOL
I hope this isnāt a strict numerical progression, if āaverage programmerā means GOTO SOME_OTHER_JOB as you are implying.
Iām probably 4 going 5 soon. But going to drop myself back to 3 this fall when i go back to school.
Iād personally like to be successful, competent, and working - so far, so good. Even though Iāve written a book, I doubt Iāll ever be famous. Besides, if I ever become famous, Iāll have to start behaving badly and deal with the paparazzi, like all the other famous programmers. How do you and Joel live with that?
How exactly does an amateur programmer get a higher ranking than an unknown programmer. Wouldnāt an amateur be trying to get a job in the programming field?
// Maybe not understanding this is why Iām only a #4
Gates was a programmer? Whom are you kidding? What code did he actually wrote?
I would have put Torvalds and Stallman on the list at levels 7 and/or 8
Iām at 5 bruteforcing my way to 6 
Actually I feel like Iāve just touched a project that is useful to others, hasnāt been done before and makes the actual work I want to do a lot easier. If that isnāt going to make me famous, Iām at least going to maintain a smoking cool library.
Are you bored? Another letās put programmers into different categories post? What about the Full Time Blogger Programmer? Which one are you?
Maybe not understanding this is why Iām only a #4
You say that as if itās a bad thing. Someoneās got to be average otherwise thereād be nothing to measure by.
4 for life.
I like to think that Iām a number 3, and fear being a number 1.
Jeff, where would you put David Caminer?
I would bet most people at 5 are also at number 2. Iām a successful programmer, 17 years working at a high rate of pay. I keep my skills up to date and know I could have another job within a few days if I decided to leave where I am. What I do actually affects the bottom line of the company Iām with. That puts me in category 5 doesnāt it? But at the same time, you donāt know me, Iām not famous and I work for a Megacorp. So except for your Competent (usually) but unremarkable statement, that makes me number 2 as well.
Your levels 1-5 are all actually part of number 2. Number 6 defines what is not in group number 2 doesnāt it? Oww my head hurts.
I hope Iāll still be programming when Iām 50. If Iām not, then I have less than 47 days to live. Until one of those days arrives, I think I must be some sort of #5ā¦
āI meant Dead Programmer figuratively, not literally.ā
I know you donāt like people taking your posts literally, but I do think in this case you should change the post to make it clear that Knuth is not dead. I suspect a lot of people do not read the comments, and will assume, as I did, that theyād missed some announcement.
How about the 'Woz? Or is he more of an electrical engineer then a programmer?
If 2/3 of your dead programmers are not actually dead, you should probably pick a better name. Otherwise youāre pulling a Humpty Dumpty.