Root production SOIL vs HYDRO your opinion

A friend and I got into a heated argument today about root production between soil and hydroponic styles of growing. We need your input to solve this!
It is common knowledge that container size can hinder root production & stop plant growth in soil BUT I disagree with these size constraints in hydroponics. The purpose of hydro is to deliver the nutrients to the roots so the plant does not have to spend time/energy producing them.
I feel that IF container size can constrain hydroponically grown plants then the container would need to be substantially smaller than a comparative size/strain in soil.
how do you feel about this? be quantitative!

Just cover your root system and have the best of both worlds. Big roots=big fruits

wel with most hydro systems, theres no container really that encases the roots, they are hanging there or on some sort of netting, or on a rockwool pad or something, so they can grow and grow, really i think what would restrain their growth would be water (cuz they will rot), air with no moisture (they dry out) or the edge of the rockwool...?