Change framework (why bother?)
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:34 am
Ok so I started at the company I work with now about 7 months ago and their website was a floating piece of junk that was amazing to see even work. So I spent a few months and rewrote the entire website using my own framework that I have developed over a long time. Everything was ready for launch and the code was much better (MVC framework, templating with PHPTAL, multiple languages available, XHTML valid...)
Then the day before the scheduled launch some old friend of my boss came in for some advice giving or whatever and after he looked at my code he was like "its too simple". I said, "simple is good, why over complicate things just to be complex?" His argument against using my code was that it had not been tested and it's missing features that we would never use like a AJAX writer or whatever garbage that is, some uber-complex database layer, catching, and some other non-features.
My arguments against this is that yes, it certainly has been tested and the older versions of my framework have been running on e-commerce websites for years. As for the features, I don't want some simpler way to write AJAX since we have absolutly no use for AJAX on our website. I don't want a overly complex database layer and query writer (Im looking at you, Zend Framework) since I can just write the queries myself or use my 4 simple, easy to use, and very efficient methods (load, get_list, save, remove). The only thing that I thought was valid was the catching but that one is not necessary yet as the website is not big enough for this to make a difference. Eventually though I was able to change systems using the argument that at least this code is over a thousand times better than what was running so right now my code runs on the site, but with the knowledge that as soon as I get a single fee moment, I will have to start moving to a different framework.
So my problem is that I have been stalling for as long as possible because I have everything right where it needs to be. I can fix bugs incredibly fast and I know what I am doing at all times. If I switch to another framework that I will have to redo a lot of things which would take a lot of time and the end result would not be any different in performance, all it would do would take away my ability to use PHPTAL as my templating engine and make troubleshooting just a bit more difficult. When I tell my boss this he just says "well (the guy who said no to my stuff) says that we should switch" without anything else. How can I convince him that look, this is ridiculous, listen to me. Or am I just being a idiot bent on using my own code when there is much better options out there?
Then the day before the scheduled launch some old friend of my boss came in for some advice giving or whatever and after he looked at my code he was like "its too simple". I said, "simple is good, why over complicate things just to be complex?" His argument against using my code was that it had not been tested and it's missing features that we would never use like a AJAX writer or whatever garbage that is, some uber-complex database layer, catching, and some other non-features.
My arguments against this is that yes, it certainly has been tested and the older versions of my framework have been running on e-commerce websites for years. As for the features, I don't want some simpler way to write AJAX since we have absolutly no use for AJAX on our website. I don't want a overly complex database layer and query writer (Im looking at you, Zend Framework) since I can just write the queries myself or use my 4 simple, easy to use, and very efficient methods (load, get_list, save, remove). The only thing that I thought was valid was the catching but that one is not necessary yet as the website is not big enough for this to make a difference. Eventually though I was able to change systems using the argument that at least this code is over a thousand times better than what was running so right now my code runs on the site, but with the knowledge that as soon as I get a single fee moment, I will have to start moving to a different framework.
So my problem is that I have been stalling for as long as possible because I have everything right where it needs to be. I can fix bugs incredibly fast and I know what I am doing at all times. If I switch to another framework that I will have to redo a lot of things which would take a lot of time and the end result would not be any different in performance, all it would do would take away my ability to use PHPTAL as my templating engine and make troubleshooting just a bit more difficult. When I tell my boss this he just says "well (the guy who said no to my stuff) says that we should switch" without anything else. How can I convince him that look, this is ridiculous, listen to me. Or am I just being a idiot bent on using my own code when there is much better options out there?