> if you are a programmer, your thought process should be molded in a way you start finding these things obvious

> had I not known about parsers, the solution would have come naturally to me

Your use of "obvious" and "come naturally" fit together, and match the template of someone who is naturally more inclined to understand this stuff than the OP might be, or (for that matter) I might be.

But rather than abandon algos as irrelevant, the OP should put more effort in.