I am making a very specific “control panel” sort of thing to organize information, record statistics, deliver alerts, and things like that.
My initial plan was to make it using CakePHP. I tried Cake, and although I thought it was really awesome, I really hated it due to the fact that it’s “automagic.” I didn’t like how it did all this stuff without me knowing. Yesterday I switched to CodeIgniter, because a friend told me to try it. I like CI much better, however using a PHP framework just doesn’t feel right. To me, it doesn’t feel nearly free or flexible enough.
My question to you:
Should I continue trying to use a framework, or should I construct a ‘semi-framework’ that makes certain things easier (layouts, form validation, localization)?
Might I add that I already have a secure authentication system created (well, I THINK it’s secure, but that’s for a different discussion :P) that would be fairly simple to implement on this site.
I think the big issue here is whether using a framework is making your life easier or not. Frameworks are designed to simplify coding by giving you a powerful base to work off of in your own code. If that base is helping you by reducing the amount of code you need to write and the amount of maintenance that goes into it, then yes, I would strongly recommend you use a framework. If the framework is making your job more difficult because it is not well suited to your needs and is not reducing the amount of work you need to do overall, then I would strongly recommend not wasting your time with one.
Just like you’d stop using a dishwasher that isn’t helping you wash the dishes faster or better, go ahead and stop using a framework that isn’t helping you code faster or better.