I remember C compilers becoming affordable, and GCC actually getting good.

I remember Java coming along, and how much easier it was to build compared to all the crazy linking and cryptic error messages my C compiler gave me once you went beyond a toy program. And god forbid you wanted it to run on BOTH Borland and visual C!

I remember CGI, and then PHP making it trivial to write web apps, and then less trivial webapps, and then webapps that people actually used in serious business.

Then I watched the same thing happen with Javascript.

All those rebuilds of the same foundations, making the same fundamental design mistakes again and again like a wheel of karma, but with prettier UX and less vendor lock-in.

And now, AI makes it even easier to re-make those mistakes. It's gotten "easier", but it's actually gotten harder. Making something that runs has never been more trivial. Making something with a solid architecture and disciplined hygiene has never been harder.

And so we begin round 4 of re-learning the lessons of the 1960s-1970s.