I think you're missing a crucial difference here: > ... write 20k LOC of complex code ... Vs the all important: > ... write _and maintain_ 20k LOC of complex

I think you're missing a crucial difference here: > ... write 20k LOC of complex code ... Vs the all important: > ... write _and maintain_ 20k LOC of complex code ... The answer to the latter, for me, is a hard no.