A couple software examples off the top of my head are Richard Hipp with SQLite and Matthew Ahrens with ZFS. Both almost incomprehensibly sophisticated projects executed well over decades.
Neither are anything like a solo effort in the way these examples are, and it's hard to say what they'd be like without the long individual involvement.
Neither are anything like a solo effort in the way these examples are, and it's hard to say what they'd be like without the long individual involvement.