I'm an undergrad studying CS and Electrical & Electronic Eng. I'm keen to improve myself.

Just out of curiosity, how would you identify a 'good' programmer? What makes a programmer 'good'?

Cheers for your answers in advance.

If you've ever worked with classmates on a program, you probably already have a sense of what it means to be a good programmer. As you become more advanced and experienced, the differences between good programmers and bad programmers will change some... but not a lot.

You also may be interested in Joel Spolsky's views on what employers should be looking for in a programmer. It's at http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/GuerrillaInterviewing...

I hear that many small companies cannot afford to use recruiting services because of their prohibitive costs. What about that case?

Refer to items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

I want to make sure I got you correctly. Are you saying that the technical (co-)founder of the startup you're interviewing for on average doesn't know how to spot a good programmer?

No, I said to refer to items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Nowhere did I say that.

If you really want me to get concrete, here's the dirt on startups hiring troubles: they usually flub 4 and/or 5.

Programmers are wising up. Only a small subset of startups are worth their time, unless it's a lifestyle choice, so they're choosy. Even among the small subset of startups that are worthwhile, they're not necessarily adept at communicating what actually appeals to programmers.