That wasn't my point. My point is, even if you know the theory behind compilers, and maybe have written a few yourself, you probably will have difficulty understanding GCC, Clang, or another production compiler unless you've done work with such a compiler before.

That is, your friends' awe of the compiler is not only justified given their skill level, it's also likely justified at your skill level as well (although as I don't know you personally, I can't say for sure).