I have to say I don't really get the analogy with Bentley vs Prius. Engineering the Prius seems like it's both more challenging and rewarding. Constraints are tighter and expectations of reliability are higher, and efficiencies are more important - in fact, the Prius is all about efficiency.
(Also, the point about your someone "with a CS degree" - it's completely irrelevant that they had a CS degree, AFAICT. It mostly comes down to their prior experience, and they clearly didn't have a lot of it. That's mostly orthogonal to education.
I also wouldn't pick C++ for a CRUD app, not without very specific requirements. I'd choose C# if there's no existing web app, but if there's an existing web app, or there's going to be one, Electron makes a lot of sense.)
(Also, the point about your someone "with a CS degree" - it's completely irrelevant that they had a CS degree, AFAICT. It mostly comes down to their prior experience, and they clearly didn't have a lot of it. That's mostly orthogonal to education.
I also wouldn't pick C++ for a CRUD app, not without very specific requirements. I'd choose C# if there's no existing web app, but if there's an existing web app, or there's going to be one, Electron makes a lot of sense.)