Your analogy is backwards imo but I totally get where you are coming from. I would still say though that it is a lot harder to write a compiler than it is to wr

Your analogy is backwards imo but I totally get where you are coming from. I would still say though that it is a lot harder to write a compiler than it is to write a web app, at least in general. Building your own compiler is like building a nuclear power plant. Building a web app, from an engineering perspective, is like drunk texting your friend about quantum mechanics, and I say this as someone who works on web apps every day. Every once in a while a real problem does crop up, but the vast majority of problems faced by web apps are just about finding the right existing tool for the job, doing frontend stuff, tweaking SQL queries, and making CRUD endpoints. You are right in one sense though. Being good at engineering doesn't mean you have a good eye for design and good common sense for UX, but programmers are expected to more and more these days. This is why it's still important to get a well-rounded liberal arts education instead of going all-in on engineering and coming out with no creative/artistic ability.