The sophistication of a piece of code is not merely an attribute of its complexity.

Else a program with tons of accidental complexity (a badly written program by an intern) would be equally good with a program with huge essential complexity (a 10 line program that takes tons of domain and/or programming knowledge to write)...

There was a way to make your point politely and be taken seriously. This was not the way.

You mean the parent was being sarcastic? If so, it went over my head.