"Lines of Code" issue
So why ... "scholastic aptitude" gets measured by simple-minded standardized tests, or the productivity of programmers gets measured in lines of code. These tests are easy to apply, and there is nothing so tempting as an easy test that kind of works.
Measuring what hackers are actually trying to do, designing beautiful software, would be much more difficult. You need a good sense of design to judge good design. And there is no correlation, except possibly a negative one, between people's ability to recognize good design and their confidence that they can.
The only external test is time. Over time, beautiful things tend to thrive, and ugly things tend to get discarded.
Hackers and Painters
Measuring what hackers are actually trying to do, designing beautiful software, would be much more difficult. You need a good sense of design to judge good design. And there is no correlation, except possibly a negative one, between people's ability to recognize good design and their confidence that they can.
The only external test is time. Over time, beautiful things tend to thrive, and ugly things tend to get discarded.
Hackers and Painters