Ask HN: Why is'put things elsewhere and design access'so natural as things grow?

1 jupiterglimpse 2 6/20/2025, 2:14:20 PM
Maybe this is a stupid question...but I'm really curious about how others think.

I’m a beginner iOS dev building a simple app. When I got to storing data, I thought it’d just be “save it somewhere.” But it turns out there’s a whole layer of logic — insert, update, delete, ordering, structure.

Why so much behavior design just to store?

Then I started thinking: maybe this happens because the data isn’t “with me” anymore — it’s somewhere else. And whenever we delegate something — money to banks, memory to notes, data to storage — we need structure around it.

I just find this idea really interesting. You’re not carrying everything with you — you put it somewhere and manage it remotely. Like money. Like data. Like a lot of things in life. People take this for granted, but I feel like there’s something deeply fascinating behind it… I just haven’t fully figured it out yet.

Has anyone thought about this? Curious to hear from different perspectives.

Comments (2)

JohnFen · 5h ago
I don't think it's related to data not being "with you" anymore. You'd find that even if you did keep the data "with you", you'll still need the layer you're talking about.

The reason for that layer is performance and that a uniform way of working with data is desirable. Particularly if that data will be accessed by more than one program or instance of a program, regardless of where the data actually resides.

blinkbat · 5h ago
bit of a vague question. also, there are embedded dbs like sqlite where the data isn't really remote, it's colocated with your files.

> Why so much behavior design just to store?

because secure storage is the foundation of your app, and the only guarantee your users have of privacy and data integrity.