There are different areas of skill. Some people can refactor a messy chunk of code into something more organized. Some can create a rough sketch of a large sy

There are different areas of skill. Some people can refactor a messy chunk of code into something more organized. Some can create a rough sketch of a large system that is well-organized and loosely-coupled, others can optimize an algorithm for efficiency. Some can write code that is easy to read and understand. And some can write code that is extremely abstract and expressive. It's rare to find all of these skills in one person. Depending on the project goal, some of the above are crucial and some are nice to have. All of the above can be learned, and for some experience is the best teacher, while for others a CS background helps a lot.