The first programs were written in binary/hexadecimal, and only later did we invent coding languages to convert between human readable code and binary machine code.
So why can’t we just do the same thing in reverse? I hear a lot about devices from audio streaming to footware rendered useless by abandonware. Couldn’t a very smart person (or AI) just take the existing program and turn it into code?
The first programs were thousands of times smaller and less complicated.
We can.
No, you’d need a team of experienced developers and lots of time.
So much time that the target software you’re trying to reverse engineer usually moves faster than you can catch up.
So you’re constantly falling further behind the current state of what people want to use.
And no one will give you money for your effort. And if you do manage to become successful and make money, a swarm of lawyers will descend upon you.
It’s taken years for devs to decompile Zelda let alone other projects. It’s crazy how much work goes into such projects.