Excellent software professionals: experience, work activities, and perception by peers

Abstract This paper reports findings of a field study examining expertise in 29 software development projects. Using a peer nomination method, 33 out of 200 subjects were characterized as excellent software professionals. Excellent software professionals are described as having high technical and computational knowledge, a high level of social skills, and as using a method-oriented working style. They have a broader, not longer professional experience than do their colleagues. Excellent and average software professionals do not differ with respect to time spent on typical software development activities such as design, coding, or testing, but excellent software professionals are more often engaged in review meetings and consultations than are other team members.