Why is it impossible to reverse-engineer closed source software? - Lemmy.World

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 [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/spotify-wont-open-source-car-thing-but-starts-refund-process/] to footware [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/immensely-disappointing-nike-killing-app-for-350-self-tying-sneakers/] rendered useless by abandonware. Couldn’t a very smart person (or AI) just take the existing program and turn it into code?