[tomcam]

Well hang on. You say "newbies". I made sure I had been doing hard stuff for a few years before I joined the FAANG company, but yes, it was in the late 1990s. At that time it was harder to get in with no degree. I made it my job from the very beginning of my career to choose areas that were hard for most programmers and to keep up my skills.

[tsingy]

What is "hard for most programmers" exactly?

[tomcam]

Back when I did it, assembly, embedded programming, and compiler implementation were all subjects programmers avoided in college so I went in that direction.