[tabtab]

The same internal or custom CRUD app done with 90's tech was much quicker and much less code than current web stacks. Is it too much distraction with fads and JavaScript UI gizmos, CRUD-unfriendly web standards, a combo, or something else? Something is wrong. It's good for IT worker employment, but customers are paying an ARM chip and a leg (bad pun intended).

We de-evolved. Ooga Booga. We had Jetsons-like drag-and-drop IDE's and code that closely matched the screen and business logic, but then replaced them with Flintstone stone tablets, saying "It Must Be This Way" in case we go "mobile" in 2080 or whatnot. Now it's layers talking to layers talking to layers and we spend all our time wiring and rewiring the layers to layers. The buzzword is "separation of concerns", but I see separation of productivity and separation of money from wallets. "Enterprise" apps were always a bloated e-bureaucracy, but the bloat trickled down to smaller apps in a big buzzword chase to be "just like the big dogs". Maximalism rules IT.

(In well-run shops, such stacks can be done effectively, but most orgs are semi-dysfunctional. The tall stacks are not riff-raff proof. One duck moves out of alignment, and the results are quacked.)

[jacobroyquebec]

Exactly how I feel about web dev. Then, even when you can convince a client that all those layers are useless, a sleazy competitor salesman can convince him otherwise...

[tabtab]

Yip, the buzzword-slingers know how to sell the Swiss Army Kitchen Sink by making them fear what-if scenarios: What if you need internationalization? What if you need mobile? What if you need web-scale? What if you need microservices to connect to Foo.com's great web services? What if you need a pony?

Warren Buffett has often said that one key ingredient to his success is not fearing saying "no" to questionable or borderline opportunities. Most investment firms don't feel comfortable paying people to sit around all day and say "no". It looks like slacking to the bosses. But Buffett has no bosses, so he can say no for a decade if nothing good comes his way. He tunes out the bandwagon if the math isn't there.