I hate to say this, and I'm sure it doesn't apply to anyone reading HN, but in my experience the ability to sit down at a keyboard and end up with a useful nont

I hate to say this, and I'm sure it doesn't apply to anyone reading HN, but in my experience the ability to sit down at a keyboard and end up with a useful nontrivial program a few hours later is inversely proportional to the number of years of graduate school.