What makes a good developer?

Unity Engine
1

I am creating a game by outsourcing game development via a website, and I am having a though time identifying good programmers. Does anyone have a short 10 hour programming task and explanation of what would make it successful so I can test potential developers? I am on my 3 developer and 4 months delayed on my project. Please help.

2

I’m not sure if there is a usable way to test a good developer unless you need one for a special field, as most have weaknesses and strength.

There are some general things though to consider when looking for one that save you headache:

  1. Whats his price? Good devs don’t offer their services at cheapo rates. If you don’t have the cash to pay a good dev ($25 - $50 per hour), look to form a team with one if you have the art skill to make this a reasonable option for the dev and thus both of you.

  2. Work on milestone base and pay with that in mind, targeting milestones that are in reasonable time differences for both of you (1 to max 2 week, otherwise I as dev wouldn’t consider the task without a 50% upfront payment)

  3. Get a maximum tolerated timeframe for missing the dates, after which his fee is reduced. A good dev will commonly be able to estimate the required time pretty well.
    Exception clearly are higher forces out of his control.

  4. Has he work to show? I mention that as last point because contract devs often have done work but normally are bound to not mention their taking part in it.

3

I’m a developer and a good one too, I believe.

I suggest you look for someone with a good resume and check references. Ask what they do in their freetime, good developers program on-the-side as a hobby. Also, good developers don’t come cheap. The company I work for bills me out at $100 per hour (when I work direct / on-the-side, it is about half that) And above all, keep the carrot dangling right in front of them… setup a series of short milestones (about 1 week in length) and talk to them each day to get status reports and only pay when the milestone is reached.

Famous blog articles regarding developers:

  1. Remember, good developers are lazy and dumb. Why Good Programmers Are Lazy and Dumb

  2. Joel Spolsky has a few good blog posts regarding finding good developers. Basically he states, good developers are motivated by work environment A Field Guide to Developers – Joel on Software

4

the second one is so scary true it hurts