[logfromblammo]

Writing software is not difficult. Anyone can do it. The hard part is learning to structure your thinking such that the software you will be writing will actually solve a problem as it currently exists in a cost-effective way.

With that skill, you don't even always need to know how to write software programs. Sometimes, you're better off delegating specific tasks to humans.

When someone hands you a problem like "make this dead elephant disappear" other people will still be scratching their heads after the programmer has already figured out

  while( elephant.mass > 0 )
  {
     eater.TakeABite( elephant );
  }

And they think to themselves, "I can vanish an elephant in two lines." Everyone else is still thinking about the problem in terms of tons. The chewing and swallowing is a trivial implementation detail.

(Meanwhile, some other programmer will be at the north pole wondering what happened to the elephant they left in Cairo.)

Some people simply aren't able to deal with problems they have not encountered before, that are too far beyond their domain of comfort. They can learn, but they don't innovate. As long as such people exist, they will have to pay other people to teach them how to cope with changes in their environment. Software engineers get paid well because a lot of them can effectively solve problems without needing to be domain experts in anything.

[hoosieree]

No real programmer would propose an O(N) solution like that.

Here's O(1):

    elephant.invisible = true;

[imtringued]

And now the world is filled with invisible elephant carcasses.

[jopsen]

Careful your not over-engineering :)

[mr_toad]

‘Writing software is not difficult. Anyone can do it’

The drop out rates from programming courses suggest otherwise.

[logfromblammo]

It is unclear whether that is due to lack of aptitude, lack of desire, or incorrect expectations.

The qualities of those people who have ever successfully written software programs suggest that there is no magical determinant that would prevent any motivated person from doing it.

Apply the construction from the Pixar film Ratatouille. "Anyone can cook" does not mean that everyone can, just that there's no one who couldn't.

I suppose some kinds of brain defect or brain damage could prevent it, if you really want to pick nits. But in that case the condition would likely also prevent that person from doing much of anything else.