Does the term genius apply in programming?

What would a genius programmer have that a good programmer does not? Or does the term not apply?

1. an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc.: the genius of Mozart.

From stackoverflow

• It does apply. A genius programmer writes code which when other programmers see, they tap themselves on their forehead and say, why didn't I think of that.

  zsharp : that may only reflect on the fact that the average programmer is a creature of habit...

• I've heard a less favorable interpretation of genius:

  A genius in programming is someone who writes code that is so smart that only he/she can understand it.

  SnOrfus : Or code that is so smart that anyone can understand it?

  Mostlyharmless : Not to mention they are rather stubborn and do not really care much about other persons opinion ;)

  tuinstoel : What about genial dudettes?

  EJB : Yea, I knew a "genius" like that. After being paid a fortune to develop an app, the company I worked for was paying him $300/hr (in 1987!) to maintain and change it because no one else could. Maybe not a genius programmer, but he sure knew how to make money!

  tuinstoel : So he is a genial moneymaker!

  Joachim Sauer : @tuinstoel: better? ;-)

  hasen j : saua, I call that "ninja" programming, not genius, just show-off. genius is code so simple, compact, yet does the job well.

• "What would a genius programmer have that a good programmer does not?"

  A job at Google or Frogcreek? ;P

• What would a genius programmer have that a good programmer does not?

  Access to Genius internal documentation, so he can implement driver for a Genius mouse.

  Eddie Parker : That is such a bad joke. ;) I love it.

• This fits with one of my favorite Kernighan quotes:

  "Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it."

  So don't be such a genius that you out-genius yourself.

• A genius programmer is the guy who write a small code yet understandable and powerful, and believe me they are a few.

  ecleel : +1 The Question is is Sulaiman a genius programmer or not? I believe yes :P

• It doesn't exist.

  Whenever you have to "judge" an entity based on certain (undefinable) criteria there will always be someone or something bigger or better than that entity.

  "Local genius" may exist in certain geographical areas (i.e. your company, my company) but even then they are only genius according to certain limited criteria and knowledge present at the moment.

  One minute I'm a genius; the next you're a genius.

  The fact that you can't provide criteria is, in and of itself, a proof that the "ultimate" genius programmer does not exist. As soon as you provide criteria you narrow the scope and viola you have a "local genius."

  zsharp : this logic would apply universally, not only to the definition of genius