> also because people are better at writing code than they were then (even if it doesn't feel that way)
Any reference or data to back up this assertion? My intuition would say otherwise, if for no other reason than that because the many layers of abstraction that exist today allow a person to become productive writing code with significantly less knowledge and in a shorter time than in the past. When you combine this with a general shortage of workers in the industry, you have a huge influx of individuals less educated in the field and with less experience. With all that considered, I find it hard to think that we're any better at writing software, in fact, the abstractions that exist today are all about letting us be worse at writing code while still being productive.
Any reference or data to back up this assertion? My intuition would say otherwise, if for no other reason than that because the many layers of abstraction that exist today allow a person to become productive writing code with significantly less knowledge and in a shorter time than in the past. When you combine this with a general shortage of workers in the industry, you have a huge influx of individuals less educated in the field and with less experience. With all that considered, I find it hard to think that we're any better at writing software, in fact, the abstractions that exist today are all about letting us be worse at writing code while still being productive.