"but now men such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg—the modern trinity of the tech world—are hailed as the innovative programmers of the last 30 ye

"but now men such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg—the modern trinity of the tech world—are hailed as the innovative programmers of the last 30 years." Not a confidence builder. I do not doubt that Gates and Zuckerberg have done serious programming, and that some of what Gates did was definitely innovative. I do doubt that they made their fortunes as "the" innovative programmers.