> doesn't that apply to flesh-and-bone developers?

No, it does not. If you have a developer that knows C++, Java, Haskell, etc. and you ask that developer to re-implement something from one language to another the result will be good. That is because a developer knows how to generalize from one language (e.g. C++) and then write something concrete in the other (e.g. Haskell).

The hard bit of programming has never been knowing the symbols to tell the computer what to do. It is more difficult to use a completely unknown language, sure, but the paradigms and problem solving approaches are identical and thats the actual work, not writing the correct words.

Your argument fails where it equates someone who only codes in one language to an LLM who is usually trained in many languages.

In my experience, a software engineer knows how to program and has experience in multiple languages. Someone with that level of experience tends to pick up new languages very quickly because they can apply the same abstract concepts and algorithms.

If an LLM that has a similar (or broader) data set of languages cannot generalise to an unknown language, then it stands to reason that it is indeed only capable of reproducing what’s already in its training data.

But the model has seen pretty much all the public Haskell code around, and possibly been trained to write it in different settings.

If you do it for fun then why do you care whether an LLM can do it well or not, which was the original argument? Shouldn't matter to you in that case.

The point was to answer the question: "Can every piece of software be viewed as a permutation of software that has already been developed?" In my opinion, an email client is a more favorable example than a 3D engine. In fields where it is necessary to differentiate, improve, or innovate at the algorithmic level, where research and development play a fundamental role, it is not simply a matter of permuting software or leveraging existing software components by simply assembling them more effectively.

What complexities specifically? Implementing SMTP (from the client’s perspective) that other SMTP servers can understand is not very hard. I have done it. Does it follow every nuance of the standard? I don’t know, but it works for me. I haven’t implemented IMAP but I don’t see why it should be much harder. Is there a particular example you have in mind?

Idk, a working basic email client is just not that hard to write though. SMTP and IMAP are simple protocols and the required graphical interface is a very straightforward combination of standard widgets.