Ask HN: What Does It Take to Be a "Black Belt" Programmer? Just like some martial arts have a belt system to reflect your skills, I wonder if we could adopt a similar approach in programming. What would each belt represent? I am a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) practitioner myself, and in BJJ, there are generally five belt levels: white, blue, purple, brown, and black. When you spar with someone of a higher belt rank, you really see that there are levels to the game. Similarly, even though our skills as programmers aren’t tested in the same way, it’s intriguing to think about what each belt might signify for a programmer. What abilities should a “blue belt” programmer possess? How would that differ from a “purple belt” or a “black belt” programmer? |