I think the authors point is generally valid. But... Personally, I see things as 'programming can be easy or hard (but doable), but only if you have the type o

I think the authors point is generally valid. But... Personally, I see things as 'programming can be easy or hard (but doable), but only if you have the type of mentality that you will never quit.' Basically anyone can learn a language if they are exposed to it constantly, and if you are programming or debugging a lot, it is inevitable that you will learn the language you are looking at. And basically everyone could get to that point. They could also learn to communicate basics with their language. But it obviously doesn't mean you can build a rocket just because you have the ability to read language and books related to rockets. So I think there are some easy things about programming that do apply to 'everyone', and for those things it may be appropriate to say 'anyone can do it'. However, there are certain things that require deep understanding of complex subjects generally only learned by hard work. If you are not the type of person who likes to work hard to learn, then you "can't" do those kinds of programming tasks. So it is both easy and hard, depending on your mentality. What parts of it are easy and what parts are hard may vary based on aptitude and a variety of other factors.