I think the apparent hubris is what they're referring to, and that it is a negative indicator of developer self-awareness, while humility and willingness to acknowledge past mistakes are positive signs.

Honestly, if you've always delivered rock solid software, you're some sort of mythical creature.

> I think the apparent hubris is what they're referring to, and that it is a negative indicator of developer self-awareness, while humility and willingness to acknowledge past mistakes are positive signs.

Yes, anyone who's ever done a slight bit of bragging, even if it's actually true, is automatically and forever, completely lacking developer self-awareness.

> Honestly, if you've always delivered rock solid software, you're some sort of mythical creature.

There are whole agencies full of people that do it. But I get it, the thought that it's somehow impossible probably makes most software devs feel better about accepting their own mediocrity.

I love how everything is so black and white to HNers. "If you've ever bragged, you can't be telling the truth." or "If you use JavaScript, you're not a real programmer."

It's very comical.

There’s a comic, I forget where, that says the difference between good and bad developers is that while both cause the code reviewer to exclaim “WTF?”, the bad developers causes far more of them. :)

That’s the badger :)