🌶️ Hot take to start 2023: flat files are a poor substitute for a good database.
Fine for a 1-to-many, like a blog, but falls apart with anything more involved.
@brianleroux cold take : most web sites data is so small it fits in RAM so small text files as persistent storage for it are easy to organise and manage, index on demand / startup with minimal overhead
@falken yeah definitely not saying a good database is essential complexity for all situations; just ones with more involved data structures