I suggest that "barrier to entry" also includes getting started programming in general. Too much to choose from, large leap in skill level required from text in a terminal to graphics on the screen, etc.
I question if that's really true given all the libraries for languages like Python, online tutorials/projects, and various types of low code environments. Sure, you need to figure out what your options are (or have someone show you) but I question whether it's really more difficult to do something than firing up the BASIC interpreter and typing in code from a magazine.
