It's an unpopular opinion. But it's true. I'm not the first to speak on what a Rockstar developer is. People have been defining it for at least a decade. But I want to take a step back and think about where the term Rockstar comes from. What were the original Rockstars? Rockstars were musicians that performed impressively in ways few others could and innovated by breaking the established norms of their craft. These innovations grew the Rockstar's massive followings not just from their novelty but also their controversy. Rockstars were highly sought after by talent agencies as individuals that couldn't be replaced, and these agencies cared about one thing: profit. And from this we can see how the term "Rockstar developer" formed: > A Rockstar developer stands out to their colleagues and management. They solve impressive high profile problems and tend to rise to fame from these accomplishments. Rockstar developers can solve problems at all costs, even when they have to work long hours and push back against the input of their non-Rockstar companions. They are highly sought after by recruiters who see how they can provide high value to their companies. But these Rockstar developers share much in common with the Rockstars of their origin: - Controversy - Any attention is good attention. Rockstars got their reputation for going against the grain and protesting against the status quo. Sometimes this was with songs like "Fortunate Son" protesting the Vietnam war. Other times it was Sid Vicious wearing a swastika. Both acts were controversial and got the respective artists plenty of attention, but one is clearly more noble than the other. If an employee has a large reputation in their company, how did they get it? Sometimes it's purely out of constructive contributions to projects. Other times it's from toxic behaviors their coworkers are complaining about. But similar to the Rockstars of the past, people's names stick well past how they gained their attention, for better or for worse. - Infrastructure of Support - Behind every Rockstar is a team of sound techs, makeup artists, promoters, and tons of other labor, often underpaid and underappreciated. How many guitar shredders would have a hollow sound if they weren't playing over a bassist? Where would Ozzy Osbourne be without Shannon's business acumen? How many people are rolling back Rockstar devs' changes on a Friday night because they keep pushing code without anyone else's consultation? Are there non-Rockstar engineers changing their code to integrate with the whims of their Rockstar companions? - Burnout - Similar to how Rockstars spend years going on world tours and countless hours in the studio grinding for perfect takes, Rockstar developers can pull long hours working on their projects at all costs. And similarly to their musical counterparts, they work these inhuman hours until their human bodies stop them. Uncountable numbers of Rockstars turned to drugs to cope, and ended up dead in the middle of a tour. There's an entire group of Rockstars known for only living to the age of 27, barely long enough to have a career as a Senior Developer. So yeah. Rockstars developers exist. As popular, flashy, and disastrous behind the veil as the musicians before them. <font size=1>Published 2024-04-19</font>