---
title: "The Worst Programmer I Know"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-worst-programmer-i-know-qibnbbzgd
source_url: https://dannorth.net/2023/09/02/the-worst-programmer/
type: article
source: "Hacker News"
published: 2023-09-02T19:19:45.480Z
updated: 2023-09-02T19:19:29.400Z
tags: ["productivity"]
reading_time: 3
upvotes: 192
comments: 14
language: en
---

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# The Worst Programmer I Know

**[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 3 min read · 192 upvotes · 14 comments

## Summary

Dan North & Associates Ltd The Worst Programmer I Know is Tim Mackinnon. He is the worst programmer I know, and why I fought to keep him in the team. Tim's productivity score was zero, and he never signed up for any stories.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://dannorth.net/2023/09/02/the-worst-programmer/>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@mortr0n** · 8 upvotes

> I enjoyed this fun, quick read.  Good information to consider and now I really want to work with Tim.

**@rlnorthcutt** · 5 upvotes

> Everyone needs a Tim!

**@srcmayte** · 5 upvotes

> What a fantastic take on performance measurement vs team accountability. Perfect and well written.

**@brdnicolas** · 0 upvotes

> haha very nice article!

**@mindaugas76** · 0 upvotes

> Just add Tim as a pair programmer to the ticket with appropriate business value and you'll see how he compares. Who knew skewed metrics are skewed in specifically crafted edge cases? /s

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---

Tags: [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-worst-programmer-i-know-qibnbbzgd)