I originally found the PCM through Starling Software‘s copy, but it turns out to originally be by Sijin Joseph.  As both sites have lots of other interesting content, I’m linking both.

The Programmer Competency Matrix is a surprisingly realistic grid of capabilities sorted by topic, which gives an extremely rough but in my opinion basically valid idea of an engineer’s gumption.  Starling republished it as part of their standard set of tools to be used during a hire.

Regardless of whether you agree with the grid or its data, it’s fun.  Have a look, and try scoring yourself.