Data, it turns out, is far more valuable than code. Google and Facebook are unprecedented in economic history because of the data they’ve amassed; their applications, languages, and vast infrastructure merely enable the data.
When the db is the interface – Jessitron: “There are two huge sources of inertia in software: data, and interfaces.” Therefore, it makes sense, as Jessica points out, that 1) databases are the interface that matter most in your system and 2) a few patterns of databases and interactions thereof can make the difference between an evolvable system and one that grows from unwieldy to untenable.