I'm about to start working on a new web application and have been looking into different frameworks (such as RoR, Django, symfony) to see if it makes sense for me to use one. I have to say that every time I read about one I feel like I'd be constrained by the framework for not a lot of gain.
Do YCers here have experience with or without a framework? What would you choose?
There are certain things you need for every project: -ways to handle configuration files for different environments -a pattern to map URL's to methods and templates -a basic ORM so you don't have to write SQL for every single CRUD operation -a test framework that simulates an actual web request -a way to handle SQL migrations -a way to get data to and from forms
Almost every production web site needs all of the above. Why spend time doing it yourself when people have solved these problems already? The only reason I can see for writing your own framework is as a pure learning experience.