Most of Dijkstra's writing is overly melodramatic and this is no exception. Now that computing is even more ubiquitous his elitist attitude about programmers is

Most of Dijkstra's writing is overly melodramatic and this is no exception. Now that computing is even more ubiquitous his elitist attitude about programmers is even less relevant. Driving a car does not require a degree in mechanical engineering and thermodynamics and similarly writing programs should not require a degree in mathematics and logic. Also, reasoning by analogy and intuition is one of the better ways to solve problems. If it is good enough for people like Einstein and Feynman then it is good enough for me and Dijkstra in this case is just plain wrong.