I admire Fabrice Bellard. He is almost certainly a better overall programmer (opens in new tab)

Reading the list of Bellard's contributions, what strikes me is not the raw ability (although certainly there is that too!) but "damn, he knows how to pick 'em!"He keeps picking stuff to work on that ends up being insanely useful to a massive number of people. That seems somehow even more remarkable than the technical ability.Deciding what to work on might be the most important question in life.