There is no such thing as a single "intelligence". "IQ" is measuring at least three different forms of cognitive ability, is an inherently flawed and culturally biased tool and may be illegal to administer unless you can prove it's relevant to the work.
Additionally, what matters is not natural talent but the set of skills and techniques an individual has built up using those talents, compensating for their weaknesses and taking advantage of their strengths. I've met plenty of very, very smart people who flounder the first time they encounter a code base they can't hold entirely in their head at once: someone who was less "smart", with a smaller working memory, but who has been developing skill with abstraction and system metaphors since CS 101 is often a better actual developer.
The myth that developers need to be "smart" is pernicious, and the cause of most of the really horrific code bases in this industry.
> [IQ tests] may be illegal to administer unless you can prove it's relevant to the work.
Not any more than any other means of assessment on which outcomes differ on a protected axis of discrimination like race; yes, the rule was first articulated in a case involving a fairly blatant use of IQ tests to effect racial discrimination, but it is by no means restricted to IQ tests.
Additionally, what matters is not natural talent but the set of skills and techniques an individual has built up using those talents, compensating for their weaknesses and taking advantage of their strengths. I've met plenty of very, very smart people who flounder the first time they encounter a code base they can't hold entirely in their head at once: someone who was less "smart", with a smaller working memory, but who has been developing skill with abstraction and system metaphors since CS 101 is often a better actual developer.
The myth that developers need to be "smart" is pernicious, and the cause of most of the really horrific code bases in this industry.