The Worst-Kept Secret About Mark Zuckerberg Is That He's *Not* Actually A Coding Genius

Mark Zuckerberg is not a "programming prodigy" — that is the verdict of a discussion thread for programmers on the question-and-answer website Quora.

And Zuckerberg's peers don't place him in the uppermost tier of skilled coders, according to TopCoder, a site where coders improve and rank their skills. He's only in the third level.

Most people have a vague idea of the the story of Facebook's origin: It was initially built by Zuckerberg in a week when he was a student at Harvard as a sort of revenge prank on the university after authorities there banned his "Facemash" web site, which let people compare and rate photos of other students based on their looks.

To people outside the software business, that story makes Zuck seem like a computer wizard — he created Facebook in a week!

In fact, Zuckerberg majored in psychology, not computer science. The initial version of "The Facebook" website was not particularly sophisticated. And his peers in the business are ranked much more highly than he is as a coder. Zuckerberg's success has more to do with his personal persistence, hard work, a good idea and luck than it is Zuckerberg's coding prowess.

While he's clearly a skilled software engineer and incredibly talented businessman, he's not a "prodigy". The issue of Zuck's relative level of talent as a programmer came up when one Quora user asked how the Facebook CEO trained himself to be a coding genius.

One commentator in the Quora discussion cites TopCoder, where hackers can get their skills rated.

Zuckerberg's profile on the site is at the "green" level, which is third tier of coding skills. Adam D'Angelo — the former CTO of Facebook who was pivotal in its creation — is in the top level, "red." (The ranking goes grey, green, blue, yellow, red). In fact, it recently emerged Zuckerberg apparently wrote that his former colleague "taught him most of what he knows".

David Roth is the Quora conversationalist who calls the question "flawed". Roth mentions other coders who he believes are real prodigies in the sector. He talks about Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who he says "wrote the loader for Microsoft Basic for the Altair computer while flying to Albuquerque."

Roth adds: "Note that this was in 1975; there weren't laptops that you could take on a plane then. Allen was writing machine code on a piece of paper with a pencil, and he created a loader program that worked. That's pretty amazing."

He also talks about Margaret Hamilton: "She wrote the code for the Apollo space program. The sheer scope of that project and the hardware limitations she was dealing with are staggering. She had finished this code by the time she was 31."

Scores of others concur. One Quora user remarks: "I don't think he is a programming prodigy. He was (and is) an ambitious, driven young guy who shipped the right product at the right time, got smart people to work for him from the start and learned to be the CEO of a big company. Not a small feat, but he didn't need to be a prodigy to achieve it."

As another of Quora's community adds: "Zuckerberg is not a programming prodigy. The application he wrote was not unique, and not all that well-made - that is, not a brilliant, exemplary piece of programming. We can leave it to IT historians to come to a definitive answer for why he was so successful, but my belief is that he happened to strike on the right combination of timing, marketing, and features in a fairly crowded space."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-is-not-actually-a-coding-genius-2015-1

Neteller here: www..com.ng

Exactly, even me sef, I did not go to computer school, or study any computer related course, and yet i can code in several languages. No big deal at all.
The Facebook dude is/was successful (even compared to some of code-red programmers on the list), that is what counts.

Who cares if he was a dullard ? At least he built himself a facebook -- a company worth $65+ billions today.

^^exactly, and that is what counts

dhtml18:
^^exactly, and that is what counts

Boss, hw u dey cope with this recession period na. Are you on Freelancer plz ?

I am not a 'freelancer' anymore, I have gone 'corporate' (whatever that means) to escape recession wahala.

dhtml18:
I am not a 'freelancer' anymore, I have gone 'corporate' (whatever that means) to escape recession wahala.

Lol. Abeg! bro no forget us o....

Better start learning to work hard to escape recession, recession is very real - the fear of recession is the beginning of wisdom.

Adam D' Angelo is the Oga at the top. Just google him and see his accomplishments.
According to Mark Zuckerberg "For every good thing I make, he(Adam) makes 6".

^^^even the guys picture sef says it all - a proper 100% NERD!

dhtml18:
^^^even the guys picture sef says it all - a proper 100% NERD!

Lolzz.
That's very true.

If the dude was a Nigerian, some people might say he is suffering. . .

You don't have to be a genius to make something productive. Zuckerberg understood that.

dhtml18:
Exactly, even me sef, I did not go to computer school, or study any computer related course, and yet i can code in several languages. No big deal at all.
The Facebook dude is/was successful (even compared to some of code-red programmers on the list), that is what counts.

People like to talk about not studying computer related course but even those who did study computer related course hardly havd any advantage going into the world.

Mark to me is a prodigy. He understood the need to abstract some low level tasks to skilled hands.

Its Not About Been A Coding Genius Or A Prodigy, Its About Knowing Just Enough To Get The MVP( Minimum Viable Product) Out Of Development Stage And Out To The Public. Most Of Sillicons Valley Finest Knew Just Enough To Get A Working Prototype Of Their Ideas With The Likes Of Larry Ellison, Kevin Systrom, David Knarp, Kevin Rose, Jan Kuoam Etc. Even Larry Page And Sergey Brin Writes Bad Code. After Getting The MVP Out And Running The Most Important Is To Employ The Right People For The Job And Thats What Mark Did By Employing Adam D' Angelo

Sibrah:
Mark to me is a prodigy. He understood the need to abstract some low level tasks to skilled hands.

Of course, he might not be a programming prodigy, but in the final count, that does not matter. This dude is a super-man!

It seems most people don't know Adam owns quora

Jregz:
It seems most people don't know Adam owns quora

I know, but what does that change in this post?

Jregz:
It seems most people don't know Adam owns quora

Who Does Not Know Adam Owns Quora? It Seems You Do Not Know Adam Was Once A CTO Of Facebook Before Resigning To Co-found Quora With Charlie Cheevah Who Has Been Ousted From Quora

worisj:
Who Does Not Know Adam Owns Quora? It Seems You Do Not Know Adam Was Once A CTO Of Facebook Before Resigning To Co-found Quora With Charlie Cheevah Who Has Been Ousted From Quora

LOl... I live on quora and you are telling me this.. I was just trying to back the guy who said "Google him"..

Jregz:


LOl... I live on quora and you are telling me this.. I was just trying to back the guy who said "Google him"..

Lol Ok Ok Ok Ok I've Heard, Its Not A Contest Though, And By The Way, Whats Your Street/house Adress On Quora?

Mediocre coder who can make a billion vs genius coder who can't make 1/10 000th of that? Which is better?

asalimpo:

Mediocre coder who can make a billion vs genius coder who can't make 1/10 000th of that? Which is better?

If real hunger waya the genius man 4 head...... Even him go deny him geniusness / geniusity. Lol.......

worisj:
Lol Ok Ok Ok Ok I've Heard, Its Not A Contest Though, And By The Way, Whats Your Street/house Adress On Quora?

I won't tell you.. Was robbed last week

asalimpo:

Mediocre coder who can make a billion vs genius coder who can't make 1/10 000th of that? Which is better?

What companies can compare to Facebook in the world? It seems people are hating on being a genius.. Not everyone is interested in running a large corporation.... Steve Wozniak and jobs ? Rings a bell

Jregz:

What companies can compare to Facebook in the world? It seems people are hating on being a genius.. Not everyone is interested in running a large corporation.... Steve Wozniak and jobs ? Rings a bell

Alphabet Can!!
But Can Mark Take All The Credit Right Now For Facebook's Success? I Don't Think So!!, I Don't See Mark As A Genius Neither In Programming Nor In Been Creative, Becuase
1) the Idea Did Not Come From Him, Perhaps If Not For The Winkletovs They Won't Be A Facebook
2) Even At The Development Stage, He Still Got Help With Coding From Co-founder Dustin Moskovits
3) FaceBook Probably Wont Be Where It Is If Not For Sean Parker, Aside Getting Funds For Fb He, Some Of The Features We See On Fb Are From Sean
4) A Great Cto Adam D'angelo And Coo Sheryl Sandberg Made Facebook What It Is Now
I'll See Mark As A Great CEO but not a genius!!. Peeps Like Gates, Jobs, Larry Page And Elon Musk Are The True Definition Of Genius!!

worisj:
Who Does Not Know Adam Owns Quora? It Seems You Do Not Know Adam Was Once A CTO Of Facebook Before Resigning To Co-found Quora With Charlie Cheevah Who Has Been Ousted From Quora

What do you mean by "Ousted"?
Charlie left on his own.

worisj:
Alphabet Can!!
But Can Mark Take All The Credit Right Now For Facebook's Success? I Don't Think So!!, I Don't See Mark As A Genius Neither In Programming Nor In Been Creative, Becuase
1) the Idea Did Not Come From Him, Perhaps If Not For The Winkletovs They Won't Be A Facebook
2) Even At The Development Stage, He Still Got Help With Coding From Co-founder Dustin Moskovits
3) FaceBook Probably Wont Be Where It Is If Not For Sean Parker, Aside Getting Funds For Fb He, Some Of The Features We See On Fb Are From Sean
4) A Great Cto Adam D'angelo And Coo Sheryl Sandberg Made Facebook What It Is Now
I'll See Mark As A Great CEO but not a genius!!. Peeps Like Gates, Jobs, Larry Page And Elon Musk Are The True Definition Of Genius!!

You're so on point.
IMO, Alphabet is s better company than Facebook. Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Search. If not for Google, crap like Altavista would still be on board.
Mark's success is out of sheer luck.
Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Steve Wozniak. I will even add Adam. Those guys are the boss.
Check out Adam and Mark's profile at topcoder and you will see the difference.
People also seem to forget about the genius coders that work behind the scene.
Guys like Jeff Dean(OGA AT THE TOP, this guy created AdSense), Amit Singhal, Urs Hozle, Sanjay Ghemewat shaped Google.
Adam was one of the guys that shaped Facebook. They also have lots of people. I don't know much about Facebook though.

O boy, me no sabi history 101 at all, na to just dey troll dey go, na im i sabi. . .

^^^