Re:Ask HN: Why is software quality always decreasing?
by pornel on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @07:17PM
(#29900448)
I don't think we have reduced understanding of techniques. Software always had fads and programmers using them without understanding. The "Architecture Astronauts" article is now 20 years old! https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2001/04/21/dont-let-architect... And before that you could find rants that the real programmers are supposed to be using assembly, not high-level languages for noobs, like C.
And the examples you present are not cluelessness, but economies of scale fully utilized.
It is somewhat similar to all other economies of scale. Like AdWords, where you are one click away of being connected to thousands of ad publishers, but if the algorithm says "no", you get banned and will never get a chance to talk to a person. Like modern electronics where you can buy a device assembled in Philippines from parts made in China and designed in the U.S. for a fraction of a price of making it locally, but if a single $0.08 capacitor blows up, you're stuck throwing the entire thing out because the pipeline is not optimized for repairs.