How many of those hundreds of thousands of lines of boilerplate code have concepts in them that the average CS student isn't taught in their "fun" algorithm cod

How many of those hundreds of thousands of lines of boilerplate code have concepts in them that the average CS student isn't taught in their "fun" algorithm code? Remember, his article was about time management. The whole basis of his argument is that college kids assume "boring" code can be done quickly and thus can be delayed to last possible second. The truth is "boring" code usually means API code, user interface code, and input processing code. They may involve concepts that CS students have already learned, but it certainly isn't a breeze. It's not whether or not a student can do it - it's how fast they can ship a working product. As for the rest of what you wrote, you seem to have some grudge against Joel. Maybe it's just manufactured to produce traffic. But that's just my cynicism leaking through.