The most important thing about a codebase is how it is designed at a large scale, its architecture. Using a framework often dictates a specific architecture, an

The most important thing about a codebase is how it is designed at a large scale, its architecture. Using a framework often dictates a specific architecture, and this might lead to more manageable code bases. But you can come up with a clear architecture without using a framework. For example, most projects I work on are well suited for a modular design. I can build them from many small, independent parts. So I write lots of PHP scripts consisting of some SQL queries on top and some presentation logic below. Introducing an ORM and separating Model/View/Controller would just add unnecessary complexity! In my case, modularity ensures maintainability; there's no need for anyone to read all of the code before they can start working on something. Reading all of the code is only necessary if you write spaghetti code; but inexperienced developers will have no problem writing unmaintainable spaghetti code using any choice of framework!