I ran across this questionairre last summer. It’s one of those cool ideas that can probably only be done a handful of times (maybe only once). Anyway, this guy sent 10 questions to some of the most famous / interesting programmers he could think of and actually got responses.

Some of my favorite questions/answers:

Q: What do you think is the most important skill every programmer should posses?

A: Written and verbal communication skills. You’ll never make it very far as a programmer in any field unless you can get your ideas across to people effectively. Programmers should read voraciously, practice writing, take writing courses, and even practice at public speaking. (Steve Yegge)

A: A strong sense of value. The ability to ask yourself the question: Is it worth doing what I’m doing right now? So many programmers seem to waste oceans of time on stuff that just doesn’t matter. And not enough on the stuff that does. (David Heinemeier Hansson)

Q: What do you think makes some programmers 10 or 100 times more productive than others?

A: The ability to restate hard problems as easy ones. (David Heinemeier Hansson)