As the article points out (and I have before), even if it wasn't a myth, there's no interviewing technique to determine who is at what level.
Also, it should be kept in mind that there is a chance that the original study was contaminated by bad programmers. The truly bad - those who don't really know how to write code at all - are going to vastly underperform those of average competence.
If you had a test that screens out basic competency (an ability to handle CS 101 tasks like assignment, for instance) - how wide would the range be?
Certainly based on 1 study from the 60's... we can't make a good judgment. It's not even a coding study! Even if it was a coding study, it doesn't measure how well they work in teams, or how well they adapt to new languages, or the myriad other things that matter in a programmer's career.
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Here's a question that deserves study - what interview techniques can make productive teams? What productivity difference is there between those good at brain teasers (programming ones or otherwise), and those that are bad at them? What about those given syntax questions? Those who feel like a good cultural fit? General IQ?
Also, it should be kept in mind that there is a chance that the original study was contaminated by bad programmers. The truly bad - those who don't really know how to write code at all - are going to vastly underperform those of average competence.
If you had a test that screens out basic competency (an ability to handle CS 101 tasks like assignment, for instance) - how wide would the range be?
Certainly based on 1 study from the 60's... we can't make a good judgment. It's not even a coding study! Even if it was a coding study, it doesn't measure how well they work in teams, or how well they adapt to new languages, or the myriad other things that matter in a programmer's career. . Here's a question that deserves study - what interview techniques can make productive teams? What productivity difference is there between those good at brain teasers (programming ones or otherwise), and those that are bad at them? What about those given syntax questions? Those who feel like a good cultural fit? General IQ?