alt Hacker NewsI suggest every developer write a database from scratch at least once, and use it for something real. Or, even better, let somebody else use it for something real. Then you will know "why database".
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It's indeed an amazing design and implementation space to explore. If distributed it is nearly comprehensive in scope. (However, did lol @ your "every developer" - that's being super kind and generous or "developer" is doing heavy lifting here.)
Hm, sometimes opening a book could do wonders? But these were the old times...
I'll do one better.
I suggest every developer learn how to replicate, backup and restore the very database they are excited about, from scratch at least once. I propose this will teach them what takes to build a production ready system and gain some appreciation for other ways of managing state.
My first time was with a Bukkit plugin as a kid. One of my updates broke existing flat json files. Someone asked me if it has MySQL support, I didn't know what that was, then realized oh this is nice.
There are also things besides databases that I'll DIY and then still wonder why so many people use a premade tool for it, like log4j