[marinmania]

I wonder if people that were writing code in assembly complained that people learning more modern languages didn't really know how the 0s and 1s work.

I'm not sure where the line is, but there is a point where the abstraction works so well you really don't need to know how it works underneath.

I'm also not sure if a car mechanic needs to know how an engine works. I'm assuming almost none of them could design a car engine from scratch. They know just enough to know which parts needs to be replaced.

[rqtwteye]

"I'm also not sure if a car mechanic needs to know how an engine works. I'm assuming almost none of them could design a car engine from scratch. They know just enough to know which parts needs to be replaced."

That's why, when your car has a problem, a lot of mechanics just blindly replace parts with the hope that something will fix it. You are much better off with a mechanic that understands how the car works. And you will save a lot of money.

[marinmania]

I disagree that any car mechanic working a local auto body shop knows engines well enough to design one. They just know which parts are broken.

Similarly we reach a point in coding where you don't really need to know how every API or language you use operates beneath the hood, you just need to be able to see where its broken.

[bluefirebrand]

> there is a point where the abstraction works so well you really don't need to know how it works underneath

There is a point where most people might not need to know

There is never a point where no one needs to know

[jdlshore]

They did complain. But the key part is “the abstraction works so well.” It doesn’t, and I suspect it can’t.

[balamatom]

It can abstract over human agency.