"Re: sibling's comment that "some people aren't cut out to be engineers," I think that's a somewhat dangerous attitude. I think the study of computation is profound & rewarding and should be part of a liberal arts education for everyone; even apart from that, programming is also a useful skill for people who won't get a job as an engineer. "

Agreed that some basic skills are a good thing. But in the same sense that I have some grasp of writing but never will be a good writer or enjoy it, a lot of people are just not cut out to be software engineers. It would be a sad world if everybody had the same talents.