> Cryptography is a lot trickier than most other topics in computer science.
Is that actually true? Or is it that most software development isn't really about topics in computer science. Like if you wanted to design your own distributed database wouldn't most of what you said above also apply?
Isn't this really a case where "hard topic is hard"?
I thought about that when I wrote that comment and my conclusion is, no: distributed systems protocols are notoriously hard, but they don't have adversaries. Crypto protocol flaws are marginally more complicated than distributed systems flaws, but also, a distributed system with a byzantine fault can be survivable, and a cryptosystem with a subtle flaw won't be.
Is that actually true? Or is it that most software development isn't really about topics in computer science. Like if you wanted to design your own distributed database wouldn't most of what you said above also apply?
Isn't this really a case where "hard topic is hard"?