A long winding story, you can skip to the bottom
This is an argument which can be argued from many sides, therefore, let me give my personal opinion:

I started off writing script based PHP, where each file handled its own database connection, logic and presentation logic.

Then I grew up a bit and started using include files, especially for the database connection. A little way down this road, I started using include files for other parts of the page, specifically the header and footer.

Later on, I stumbled upon the nirvana of using functions in include files, now I could include one large file and call sweet little functions in various parts of the code, pure bliss.

Something funny then happened, these functions tended to coalesce into types, so for example, I had an include file for functions which do interface stuff and functions which do 'logical' stuff, and of course, a generic include file which had functions which did generic stuff, e.g. mysql_escape_string(striptags(trim($_POST['username'])));

This was the turning point.

I found myself re-using these include files over and over again, therefore, I found myself writing the functions in a generic way; in essence, I was building a framework without knowing it.

Now, if I am doing a sizeable PHP app, I wouldn't dream of using any of the above methods, CodeIgniter is the way, but this is just me.

How long did the above take? About 5 years.

Point
There are distinct advantages of using frameworks over your own 'framework' for normal CRUD based apps. However, there are situations where frameworks don't just make sense i.e. they are an overkill, or are simply in-adequate, e.g. Facebook, twitter etc

Your answer
Frameworks (i.e. CI, ZF, CP etc) will get your app to the market faster than anything else, but as your app grows, these frameworks will become insufficient, therefore you will need to do your own. But at this time, you already know how to create a framework better than those publicly available, therefore, it will be the best logical move.

IMHE

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com> wrote:

There was an argument yesterday as to which is the best way of building your own application like Twitter , Facebook. Would it be better to use a framework or build your own reusable code base resulting in a framework.

Idd Salim says that a framework ties you down to its way of thinking and coding, and that it eventually becomes efficient to build your own frameworks like Facebook.
--
with Regards:

www.denniskioko.com

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