Why use framework? Are they really a great benefit?

[southbeach]

I just embarked on Yii 2 and so far, I cannot make heads nor tails of this thing.

I like to think that I am a reasonably smart guy but the nested approach is not something I had ever been fun of. I hate the include this which includes that which includes this and then will include some more ...

I understand that they come with lots of gadgets you do not need to write and can quickly put together a site - I already have a lot of gadgets I do not need to write and I already can quickly put together a site, of course, if the site gets complex, time to deploy increases.

I guess I am having a hard time since "learning" the framework is like "learning" a totally new language. I am sure this is rant as a result of "growing pain" or guilt of not having jump on it 10 years ago when I was much younger, sharper and was able to stay up coding|hacking 48 hours straight.

Really, am I wasting my time? Is there a real value?

The one value I see is that "everyone" uses a framework and future "employment" may very well be due to knowing the 'framework' but then you'll have to know at least 3 frameworks ...

What is your take on this?


--
SouthBeach

http://www.fpgroups.com

The good thing about not knowing is the opportunity to learn - Yours truly, 2008.

 

[Borvik]

Frameworks can be great tools - not necessary but helpful. Just like the .Net FRAMEWORK allows developers to quickly create applications using a collection of tools, classes and functions - a PHP framework can do the same thing (thought not necessarily with the same elegance).

The PHP frameworks I have seen all seem to concentrate on MVC - which is good design pattern and can make future editing simpler, but I found most were difficult to learn and forced you to use auto-generated code (I don't like code generators - though they sometimes have their uses).

I think "knowing" a framework boils down to knowing the MVC design pattern and how it is applied (in general) to a project. Then you should be able to find any framework and pick up the basics of a new framework fairly easily. Then you just have to learn the subtleties of the framework (depending on the framework could be easy or hard).

 

[southbeach]

Borvik, I second your motion of "auto generated code", they are usually bloated and "tangled". So far I'm finding it a bit too hard, especially thinking of myself as a proficient developer.

This old dog just having a hard time learning new tricks!


--
SouthBeach

http://www.fpgroups.com

The good thing about not knowing is the opportunity to learn - Yours truly, 2008.

 

[Borvik]

Yeah, that's where I was a couple of years ago. I decided that the best way for me to learn was to roll my own framework with the features I absolutely needed (unfortunately before I found the PSR standards). My main goal was for each model, view, and controller the developer needed to create everything from scratch (no auto-generation) in order to promote the developer knowing every bit of their own code.