Very interesting observation. I would argue you can still do the work without it but it will be at a completely different level if you have a strong CS foundat

Very interesting observation. I would argue you can still do the work without it but it will be at a completely different level if you have a strong CS foundation because you'll understand at a fundamental level how to build software that is performant among other things. Many software teams have decided by using that as the interview process to have it as a floor for the aptitude of people on their team.