Wedge

It really depends what you need the framework for. For really basic stuff (a couple of forms, minimal MVC, little/no DB scaffolding), don't bother, just roll what you need of your own.

Alternatively, big project... definitely a framework. Depending on what I need, I tend to have two positions. If it's mostly my own code but with certain biggish components, I'll look at Zend Framework. It provides lots of useful components but you're not required to use any of them - it gives you individual components for different uses. Be warned, it's pretty heavy if you use a lot of components, but it does make life easier for individual components.

If you want something more integrated as an MVC framework without the hassle, I tend to go to Yii. It's lightweight and isn't that hard to extend and work with. I've also used CodeIgniter but I found Yii easier to work with myself.

I don't know what you're aiming to get from a framework and how much you're expecting it to do on your behalf.

The project is mid-sized and I want proper MVC separation. I think I'll make my own framework using some known libraries and my past experiences. Basically I'll be using TOX-G, Inspekt, custom DB query class similar to wesqlQuery, custom Token/Session handling class and my standard View/Subview class. I'll take a look at CakePHP and CodeIgnitor to give a second thought but this seems to be my current direction.

Sounds quite reasonable though for that size project, Yii would be pretty suitable as well, I think.

TBH I'm not exactly comfortable with a code generating framework. Not sure why.

Um, Yii isn't? It just throws out a sample project that you can build on top of... unless it drastically changed in the year since I last looked at it?

According to : http://www.yiiframework.com/tour/

Although I can be completely off the hook since I didn't really dig into it.

You *can* do it that way but you really don't have to if you don't want to.

Like everything else, it's a case of to each their own.

Symfony 2 is my personal choice.

http://symfony.com

I've been using Yii and it's a great framework, especially it's ORM model.