[elliottcarlson]

If the person was let go due to cost cutting, general layoffs, etc - then they should be straight up with a new employer that that was the case. In other cases, describing it as not being a fit would be a good description IMHO. Obviously it wouldn't benefit anyone to say they were let go due to incompetence or anything like that - since it could often be that the job itself wasn't aware of the persons skill set.

The only recommendation is for the person not to give up, start looking right away - if this person is a developer, there are so many opportunities right now that it shouldn't be hard to find a position regardless of your work experience - though depending on your locality it might require moving. For example, New York is booming with tech jobs at the moment.