I’m not even sure what a framework is. Apart from jquery, the occassional jquery plugin and few borrowed php classes (like mysql_wrapper) I code everything myself. I like to know whatever goes wrong I can fix it and I can add whatever features I need.
Is this unusual? Am I missing out?
Personally, I like using frameworks. They help speed development and you can still custom code within them. Most have solid levels of security built into them as well.
I’ve become pretty reliant on CodeIgniter, Bootstrap & jQuery myself.
Russ
What about the next person whom has to manage your code. Is there adequate documentation? Is there an ever expanding community that can be leveraged for support? Is the code regularly updated and peer reviewed to follow best practices?
You can’t do that with other peoples code? So long as it is open source you should be able to fix anything you would with your own code.
Not necessarily.
Yes
In many ecosystems especially php there is a ever expanding universe of tried and true resources. Not using those resources is just plain stubborn. Custom programming everything when adequate open source solutions exists on the market is not considerate to the client nor the next engineer(s) who might inherit the project. I’m a pure believer that considerate, professional engineers use all resources at their disposal to offer solutions with the highest value for their dollar. I believe the best way to do that is to use open source resources with large community backing which facilitate rapid changes by following industry best practices. Anything less in more cases than not is unprofessional. Now don’t misinterpret this as ALL projects require rails, express, drupal, wordpress, symfony, laravel, etc. but rather a belief that an adequate open-source starting point exists for MOST web related business problems.
Whoah, that’s going too far. You at least need to consider the context of the question. Making use of existing code is practical in many cases, but a blanket statement of that kind is going too far. In many situations, using a framework where a bit of simple code would suffice is massive overkill—like the whole jQuery lib for just a bit of minor functionality.
And when using frameworks of all kinds, you’re then sucked into a painful vortex of updates and dependencies. It might look good up front, but modern web design is all about getting a result for today and ignoring the long-term, which is a problem. Look at the mess many sites are in because they chose WordPress back in the day. It becomes a security nightmare, plugins fail … what a disaster.
It makes total sense to want to understand the code you are offering to clients, and is not unprofessional at all. Certainly, it may not make sense to reinvent the wheel, but again, it comes down to the particular situation and the need at the time.
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This is the answer to your question, @treacle0996.
@oddz is 100% right about the benefits of frameworks, open source code platforms, libraries, etc - they’re good for many, many reasons. But you also need to consider your specific situation. If you’re making a four page website that’s all HTML and CSS, with a couple of small JavaScript effects… are frameworks necessary?
On large, complex projects, presuming you are starting new, I’d almost always lean towards some sort of framework for the reasons already stated. But it is going to depend on your situation. Weigh the pros of frameworks in your situation against the cons. However, being unfamiliar with a framework is a hurdle, not a reason not to use it - unless you’re so pressed for time that you can’t learn it.
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I’ve never done that small of a project.
My answer leans more towards this scenario for myself. I work on highly dynamic websites that are in a constant state of change with multiple people working on them. That is the context which I answered this question not based on four page static websites.
I don’t really think the norm is a four page static web page. Perhaps for a small business client with limited budget but not for the majority. At least if you want to make any money doing this.
That, of course, doesn’t mean that either the OP or anyone else involved don’t do this. And not everyone developing is freelancing (and thus, have control over their own projects) or experts (and thus, may be doing small projects to start out). Or many other reasons.
That’s why it’s good to think of more than just your own working parameters when giving general answers on a subject! Or, if you’re going to be specific:
That is the context which I answered this question not based on four page static websites
Letting the OP know your context in your answer is definitely a helpful thing to do, so that they know if your answer applies to them or not.
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I am one of those people who do smaller sites, my cliens are generally businesses that have non ecommerce sites. The sites change over time but nothing drastic mostly just the text of the pages and images.
My biggest changes are rates which never change very often maybe once a year. Other changes include informational changes for tourists which happens quite regularly in my area.
With no ecommerce and not data base driven hand coding was the way to go for me. Aside from hand coding I have every line of my css documented stating what I use each class or id for. With such a basic structure I found frameworks were overkill. The documentation should help anyone who would ever take over. However since I have been with my clients over 10 years I figure by the time I should decide not to continue they will be ready for another redesign.
My old site when updating from table based non css I needed some help along the way being new to css. I read a lot before starting, found good examples and compiled my code. Working like that I found that everyone here that offered a helping hand was able to understand my needs and code.
For larger sites more complex sites maybe a framework is fine but for me at under 30 pages I feel comfortable that if I have an issue I know right where to go even if I require help to fix the small details that can trick someone that does not do this work daily.
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