This is not entirely wrong, but oddly describes the major flaw in its own argument: software engineering has tacit knowledge just like every other domain of exp

This is not entirely wrong, but oddly describes the major flaw in its own argument: software engineering has tacit knowledge just like every other domain of expertise! And just as you can't become a doctor by just reading textbooks, or an architect by just looking at plans, you can't become a software engineer by just reading a bunch of code. Successful software results from the intersection of expertise in two domains: the application domain, and software engineering.