The leakier the abstractions across layers, the more necessary it is and vice versa. As abstractions have improved and become less leaky over over time, the ne

The leakier the abstractions across layers, the more necessary it is and vice versa. As abstractions have improved and become less leaky over over time, the necessity has decreased. Older programmers will thus tend to feel this much more strongly than younger programmers. I think it used to be very true, it is less true than it was and it is becoming less true every day - with the exception of environments where foundational technology is engineered shoddily.