[robalfonso]

I'll throw my .02 in. For me a good developer is someone who has a natural aptitude, great problem solving skills, persistence, and willingness to learn new things. Every one I've ever managed who was great had those traits. That didn't mean everything they did was perfect - we are still dealing with people,but they were more versatile than most and were able to not only get things done, but the quality was there. Formal education is great, but I don't consider it an element. Reason being that technology is changing at such a pace most of what you learned is in school is now out of date, and anything foundational you learned at school (ie algorithms) is something that you can p/u from a book or online course.