Officially speaking... You are not a newbie! Wether in blockchain programming or not.
Your post is so detailed... It got me totally lost.
But at least i have an idea how complex the work of steem devs and witnesses are.
Kudos (2 elbows!!!) to you guys for keeping the steem engine running... You guys are responsible for making steemit the economic fortress of the internet it is destined to be...
So Dont let up. Nice one mahn!
He is a newbie to coding for the blockchain. He's only officially been doing it for a few months. Up until recently, the only blokes coding for the actual block have been core dev. Anything outside of that has simply been accessory for the most part, from what I understand. He's actually coding hard fork changes to how the payouts and voting structure might work of the actual coin. This takes tremendous research, vetting, reconfiguring, testing, more testing, and support-finding. Not something he's had a chance to do much of for real since recently, when he was able to retire from his day job!
Also, you're right. It is detailed, but I feel like the first half is extremely accessible to everyone serious about the blockchain, and the second half is for those who actually hope to code for it.