Article: The 'mythical' 5 percent: what makes a successful programmer is not all codes and commands.(an executive view)(Viewpoint essay)

So here you are. You've come to expect a certain high level of success, similar to what you've experienced with your projects and assignments. But the world will not behave.

The statistics are sobering: 50-80 percent of programming projects fail. These numbers are so broad because people don't brag about their failures, so we have to guess.

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An even more fascinating metric is this: 5 percent of programmers are 20 times more productive than the other 95 percent.

Let's say that this follows the 80-20 rule. Roughly 80 percent of programmers don't read books, don't go to conferences, don't continue learning, don't do ...

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