"> programming well has a much higher barrier to entry than people realize." "Yet there are people making the same salary as me that literally started programi

"> programming well has a much higher barrier to entry than people realize." "Yet there are people making the same salary as me that literally started programing 4 months ago." That certainly sounds like a low barrier to entry to me. Compare with the barrier to entry to becoming a doctor, for instance. There, in many locations, you'll be looking at a decade of proving yourself to the club, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to do that, before you are even allowed to start working. Four weeks, and maybe a computer that costs hundreds of dollars, is absolutely nothing in comparison. > this is why some developers think (and probably should) get paid more. Relative to their co-workers if they can make half as many mistakes they save time both upfront, and bug catching. But it still boils down to supply an demand, and if employers do not demand those with better bug fixing ability, there is going to be no corresponding premium for finding such people. What your post does indicate to me is that programmers have done a poor job of marketing the importance of bug fixing ability (or whatever features of an experienced developer you think is important) so that employers start demanding the subset of developers who have those skills.