The size of the code base has nothing to do with whether something is for beginners. Beginners don't read the code to find out what something does, they read th

The size of the code base has nothing to do with whether something is for beginners. Beginners don't read the code to find out what something does, they read the docs and the tutorials. It's mostly about tutorials to get them started, and quick iteration so they can see the fruits of their progress, combined with being a solution to a problem they have. Excel is a great example of something that can get beginners involved in computing. Huge code base, but lots of tutorials, and solves problems people have. If people's problems were along the lines of needing a website that can say "hello world" then Sinatra would be perfect, if their needs are more along the lines of CRUD app with web and iphone front ends then rails will likely serve them better. I've been dealing recently with a guy who asked me for some tutorials on XCode, although he absolutely cannot code with Storyboards and Interface Builder he's fully mocked out apps that he wants developed. It's that kind of thing that gets people coding.