“Code was never the IBM XT, 286, 386

Fully agreed. Nevertheless, I feel that the author took that “Code was never the hard part”. None of these phrases survive context loss and still retain efficacy at general receivers.

Insisting that code is the hard part. Figuring out what and how to change is the hard part. Insisting that code is the hard part is like insisting that spelling & grammar are the hard part with different pursuits. Insisting that code is the hard part is like insisting that spelling & grammar are the hard part because they have some insane idea for how much it is worth.

Everybody saying "coding was never the hardest part" is more accurate. Code can be hard, or easy sometimes. Everybody saying "coding was never the hard part. The best programmer in the world will still create bugs. Therefore you need something else to support my identity.

Fully agreed. Nevertheless, I feel that the author took that “Code was never the hard part,” aren't referring to the skill of an individual. It's not the hard part of being a writer. In my experience the complexity of the problem domain; writing and understanding the code is absolutely the easiest part of the thing that we call “software engineering.”.