"Deep Dive Into Roam's Data Structure"[1] really got me very thirsty for having good core underpinning concepts/ideas of what data is, how it's held in the system.<p>I was unaware that Roam is built atop Datomic. Just hearing that set off a huge light bulb, that there's some very competent information-engineering underneath Roam, that it builds atop. I'd heard some very sunny statements about Roam from engineers I respect a lot, but I've only briefly played around in Roam, and have been unsure why people would feel strongly about it, would say it stands out so starkly against what I felt like were competing personal information archives like Obsidian.<p>Anyhow, I'm even less well versed in the similar-but-different realm of what Notion is, what Notion is for. Another wiki-ish like substrate for work, collaboration, data, information; adjacent, but different. More collaboration oriented. But reading this in-depth discussion on Roam, it underscored to me that the application layer, the look and feel, the product: it's kind of the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath, the engine of information: that is definitional, is core. Bias beware, this totally validates what I want to hear, which is that software's highest & most principal role is to enable deep use/creation, empower further realms of through, enable creation of better purchases/views/perspectives. Applications all feel done & baked, but I crave software that embraces an unlimited, that is just a starting point, and this review of Roam's data structures whetted this dormant hope, seemed like a strong indicator that we ought be aiming software much higher than we have been.<p>It suggests strongly to me that the underlying object/entity architectures of software are of key importance, not just as how programmers write code, but as vital concepts to the users of the system. And it re-invigorates my hope that the big solid line between the two classes eventually starts to dissolve some, become hazier.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.zsolt.blog/2021/01/Roam-Data-Structure-Query.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.zsolt.blog/2021/01/Roam-Data-Structure-Query.htm...</a> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29295532" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29295532</a> (8 days, 4 comments)<p>[2]