If your argument is that a configurable framework is easier than code gen for beginners, I agree. But that said, you don’t seem to be acknowledging the fundame

If your argument is that a configurable framework is easier than code gen for beginners, I agree. But that said, you don’t seem to be acknowledging the fundamental tradeoff which cuts both ways. Ultimately it depends on how close you want to stay to the paved path. I’ve built enough web products at this point that I’d rather have auth primitives than a configurable framework as the latter will be way more complicated than necessary to meet my needs. For me it comes down to keeping business logic out of my framework. The logical extension of the framework + hooks model can be seen in something like Drupal. You can get amazing volumes of functionality launched quickly, but the UX is ERP-like in its rigidity. Obviously Django is not like this in the large, and the auth/admin stuff are much higher power-to-weight ratio than anything in Drupal, but it’s an interesting case study in looking at the implications of drawing different logical boundaries between framework and application.