One crucial factor in Stockfish becoming a leading chess engine is its test framework.
Summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockfish_(chess)#Fishtest
Initial announcement: https://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?start=0&t=47885&topic_view=flat&sid=b5662f579ad4c7bea91668bb9d9723a4
Lots of engines have clever programmers, but a strong test technique gave it an extra edge!
miniblog.
Related Posts
The PHP 1.0 announcement has aged pretty well! Rasmus focuses on simplicity, how little you need to get started, and the things you can build.
This convenience and pragmatism has been a major factor in PHP's success.
This announcement of VisualAge 1.0 for Java (released 1997) is cute. How could Java be revolutionary without a "new killer op-code or do-loop"?
I particularly like how the free edition limits you to creating 100 classes.