I'm not saying anything about coding, I'm saying that if you code a thing in whatever language (let's say Ada) and I have a fresh install of an operating system (let's say Debian) and a compiler for the language you use (like the GCC Ada compiler) I should be able to compile your script into a program without having to install additional dependencies (like Alire).
I'd say that's more describing "without (library) dependencies".
I'm not in the construction business, but I guess if you build a house from the ground up, that means you're not building on top of some existing structure, but you might still be using prefabricated elements.
I'd put the line here: whether ground work is used that was laid for editors, as opposed to general programming. If the thing that they are making (an editor) does not contain editor-specific prefabricated parts, then all the editor-specific work was still made from the ground up.
Seems like you arbitrarily draw the line. rustc but not cargo?
Even if you don't use any libraries, cargo is a useful tool. And if you reject tools, what editor/IDE would you code in?