Using a framework or not?

[Digital]

So, when starting your game, did you use a framework to help you initially or did you go at it alone without one?

@Nate @PaulSonny @tiff @halichu @Hare

 

[Hare]

I make my own when I'm working on new sites, I don't know how to use frameworks anyway. A friend of mine did our layout for my site though (I didn't know how back then). 

 

[Nate]

I wrote my own framework from the ground up. I think it's the reason development has taken so long haha.

 

[Bedouin]

Same here, @Nate. It took a year just to get my framework nailed down before I could even really start on game stuff.

 

[halichu]

I started developing in Laravel (I developed DStable in CodeIgniter.. which I'm unsure if that ever released, but then I moved over to Laravel). I will always use a framework for larger projects. If it's something small, then no, I don't use a framework. But if it's a large project, I will always use one. It has great security, stability, community, etc. There is no reason not to and reinvent the wheel in my eyes.

 

[Digital]

For @Nate and @Bedouin, do you make use of any libraries or actually do it all from scratch?

 

[Bedouin]

All from scratch. I work on a day-to-day basis with Wordpress development and really like concepts from how they do things, but I wanted the organization of Laravel. It's a mash-up between the two that speeds up development for adding new features to an existing feature set. Sort of a CMS MVC.

I am possibly going to add a library for database migrations though. Been looking at a few of those. It's something that doesn't make sense to code from scratch.

 

[Nate]

For @Nate and @Bedouin, do you make use of any libraries or actually do it all from scratch?

I've developed the backend from scratch, however for the front end I'm using jQuery to handle communication with the server. As @halichu pointed out - for some thing there is no point re-inventing the wheel.

As for the backend though, I wrote it myself purely because I wanted it to work in a particular way which just wasnt possible using things such as Laravel and CodeIgniter.

 

 

[Anoua]

I always use a framework for any large projects and use Laravel at work as well so use a framework most of the time. Overall, I would highly recommend using an already established framework. While you can build your own, you are going to take longer doing things that aren't going to make your project better by doing it on your own. Frameworks give you a good starting foundation with even lightweight ones including routing and other base functionalities. I also think a good Object Relational Mapper is great for speeding up developing and just make common database interactions easier. I also like using a template engine for front end code. Not strictly necessary but I think it keeps things cleaner and helps me keep backend logic separated from the front end.

 

[koafox]

I personally really stand by use of MVC frameworks for complex systems like pet sites. Some projects really don't need a framework, but as a programmer I've always felt my job is to keep things streamlined and organized so the code is easily expanded and read for future developers that might look at your project. Strictly looking at performance, overuse of a large MVC framework such as Laravel for a project that is small and really doesn't need much abstraction may be unnecessary, but in larger projects the layers of abstraction and extra tools are really invaluable for streamlining the production process.