[peterwwillis]

I think it's due to the trend against hiring DBAs. Nobody wants to put so much work into their databases anymore. I feel like that was half of the NoSQL craze, let's stop thinking about how to use databases because it's a pain.

After a while of slowly modifying and lumping more crap on a database, and it becomes a slow PITA that everyone is too afraid to touch, the usual result is to lift everything onto a new DB. DALs make this easier, but I agree that this should in no way be the point of a DAL. The point should just be to simplify & improve access to the database.

[geggam]

Our DBAs loved the DAL. There is a trend today to let developers run all over production doing what they want and it has direct impact on systems.

The complexity of the modern stack is ridiculous. You run java containers inside docker containers inside virtual machines and call it optimized.

[peterwwillis]

I think that's a result of the systems getting more complex and development models changing over time. You can either design one monolithic behemoth that can do everything by itself, or you use so many abstractions that you can assemble a different kind of behemoth piece by piece.