alt Hacker NewsYeah, my point wasn't that learning ASM isn't valuable, or that we don't use the constructs in higher level languages.
My point is that the analogy with arithmetic vs. calculus doesn't hold.
Nearly everyone uses basic arithmetic in everyday life, and a tiny fraction of those use calculus.
No programmer needs to learn ASM to be able to know how to use higher level languages. And a tiny fraction of them are using actual ASM in their everyday jobs.
Also, I think you can still learn the basic constructs of how languages work at a lower level without every learning actual ASM. There's no way you can learn calculus without an understanding of arithmetic.
Most people don't use basic arithmetic in everyday life anymore. They use machines which use arithmetic. Just like most programmers don't use assembly, they use programs which use assembly. In both cases, understanding what's going on is very useful even if you aren't directly touching that layer yourself.