It's a cute thing to say is all that really is. It's also fun to say that a "A lawyer's job is winning cases for their clients. Using the knowledge of the law i

It's a cute thing to say is all that really is. It's also fun to say that a "A lawyer's job is winning cases for their clients. Using the knowledge of the law is simply a means to an end." But the reality is two, the goal and so-called "means" to achieve the goal are closer aligned than you suggest. Sure, OK, perhaps for a very simple SEO based scheme software product, maybe the "programming" is a trivial part of the whole deal. On some level, it's like a fruitless discussion. Unless, you or anyone seriously claims that for the majority of software, the actual programming is really trivial or tertiary part of the process, then you would just be wrong. Otherwise, I don't really see what the usefulness is in debating programming as "simply a means to an end."