- what is X, I just do Y
- wow I can see so many limits of Y, now I do X
- I use X for literally everything
- now that I properly understand the limits of Y but also the heavy constraints of X ... maybe Y is enough
- I use Y for literally everything
rinse & repeat. The thing is with actual usage and actual context one does learn and thus can get away with a lot more "basic" solution but it does require genuinely understanding the limits.
It is a source of expertise, because you really learn a lot from it. But when you become old (43 over here), you really learn to appreciate “boring” solutions.
So, xBase was all you needed in the mid 80s. Then DBM was all you needed in the mid 2000s. Now, in the mid 2020s, we're told that it's SQLite that is all you need.
It was partly true then, and partly true now. But the full story's always been more complicated, so it's still worth considering a range of potential solutions rather than relying on simplistic rules of thumb or slogans.
(Wake me when nosql comes back into fashion, I'll be able to do a great "old man yells at clouds" routine about that one...)