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> how many bright young junior programmers today could update a lex/yacc parse stream, or handle socket programming or DOS HIMEM?

Almost all of them – if they're really "bright" anyways. Even given that a lot of the important context is missing, bright programmers can do this stuff.

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How many programmers could write a functional machine code?

The wrong question is being asked. Modern programming techniques work because they have successfully abstracted this complexity.

that's disingenuous. anyone can do anything given enough to learn the skills. what OP is asking is how many of today's programmers have the skills already. the answer is very few.

Indeed. If someone suggested writing a custom stream parser for something as simple as scanned images today, I'd point them right back at the wide array of off-the-shelf, standardized solutions.

Sure, a good programmer can learn this stuff. But they shouldn't have to, not these days. There's far more to programming than any one person could ever learn. Choose your battles.

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