[kluck]

OP's question is a generalization over a whole generation and can thus hardly be true.

What might be true though is that knowledge in software programming is much more specialized than a couple of years ago. IMHO that is a sign of a growing industry.

That aside I have the feeling that some people did not have the pleasure of a good education in software development, which is the reason they miss some of the more fundamental bits (or they did not pay attention which is another issue). That may be due to the fact that it is easier for lesser-educated (sorry for my english) people to get into software development and that may be due to great demand for developers in general.