Sure, but they aren't really writing what I would consider a script/program under typical usage. Obviously that's a fuzzy definition if you start piping things

Sure, but they aren't really writing what I would consider a script/program under typical usage. Obviously that's a fuzzy definition if you start piping things together, but I'm talking more about control flow / parsing argument / etc. Doing that in bash correctly does require arcane knowledge and skills. It is immensely difficult to not shoot yourself in the foot.