> On the other hand, having the wisdom of knowing what can be static in the first place? I don't think that it's something teached.
I think the trick is realising that reaching for a "programming language" is just one of the tools we have to solve a certain problem, and probably the last one we should reach for! For a stable system, you want less moving parts. A good programmer fights for it.
Can you solve a problem just by storing a JSON file somewhere? Can you solve a problem without a backend? Can you solve a frontend problem with just CSS or just HTML? Can you solve a problem without Javascript? Can you solve a data storage problem with just a database instead of database+Redis? Do you really need a full-fledged web framework where a micro-framework would suffice? Do you need micro services, Kubernetes, containers and whatnot for your site before it gets its first visitor?
I find that a lot of people go for the "more powerful" tool just to cover their asses. They don't want surprises in the future, so they just go for something that will cover all bases. But what you actually want is the things with the least power [1].
Another issue is that intelligent people have an anti-superpower called "rationalisation". They can justify every single decision they make, as misguided as it is. So it doesn't matter if a website could be done with a single HTML file: it is always possible to find a reasonable explanation for why it needed k8s, micro-services and four languages.
I think the trick is realising that reaching for a "programming language" is just one of the tools we have to solve a certain problem, and probably the last one we should reach for! For a stable system, you want less moving parts. A good programmer fights for it.
Can you solve a problem just by storing a JSON file somewhere? Can you solve a problem without a backend? Can you solve a frontend problem with just CSS or just HTML? Can you solve a problem without Javascript? Can you solve a data storage problem with just a database instead of database+Redis? Do you really need a full-fledged web framework where a micro-framework would suffice? Do you need micro services, Kubernetes, containers and whatnot for your site before it gets its first visitor?
I find that a lot of people go for the "more powerful" tool just to cover their asses. They don't want surprises in the future, so they just go for something that will cover all bases. But what you actually want is the things with the least power [1].
Another issue is that intelligent people have an anti-superpower called "rationalisation". They can justify every single decision they make, as misguided as it is. So it doesn't matter if a website could be done with a single HTML file: it is always possible to find a reasonable explanation for why it needed k8s, micro-services and four languages.
[1] Using the least powerful tool also has other advantages, see Tim Berners-Lee "Principle of Least Power" for example - https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-principle-of-least-power/