John Carmack: From a DM, just in case anyone else needs to hear this

Re:John Carmack: From a DM, just in case anyone else needs t... by aflag on Sunday March 19, 2023 @08:25AM (#35218273)

That's exactly my point, though. In the mid 80s there were a lot fewer companies producing software. Nowadays we have many more.

Indeed SQL was not the only local maxima we could have gone for, but the point is that having an easy to use database with a powerful query language did not reduce the number of jobs, but instead increased it. Instead of a few companies hiring a lot of developers, we have a lot of companies hiring a few. The latter will usually mean more jobs.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:John Carmack: From a DM, just in case anyone else needs t... by gregjor on Sunday March 19, 2023 @08:47AM (#35218423)

I think plummeting prices for hardware since the 1980s drove that, not relational databases.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:John Carmack: From a DM, just in case anyone else needs t... by aflag on Sunday March 19, 2023 @11:10AM (#35219753)

If hardware was cheaper, but writing software required an army of developers to do it, the costs would still be too great. If you read carefully, my point isn't that SQL was the cause of the tech boom, but rather that SQL and other technologies that make developers more productive didn't really take jobs away, because the market for tech would be smaller if you needed too many developers to do anything.

[ Parent | on HN ]