CMS or Framework! That is the question

by Tayyab

Posted on June 6, 2014

What comes in mind when we have to develop a website, a Frame Work or CMS? A lot of people will know about CMS a.k.a Content Management System. But when someone talks about Frame Work, only the programmers will recognize this term. What are these terms and where do they come from? Let’s find out.

What are CMS and Framework – in simple words?

When we talk about the terminology “Framework” we are more often talking about a Web Application Framework. A web application framework is simply based on coding. If you are a programmer or a web developer then you will easily understand this term and you’ll love to choose Web Application Framework for your projects because of the ease of customization that will pass on under your hand.

A CMS is a “Content Management Framework (commonly known as Content Management System) and it is based on the modules rather than code. Anyone can handle a CMS as it doesn’t require any coding knowledge. That makes it handy for use even for a non-technical or non-programmer person who doesn’t know a single bit of a programming.

On the other hand programmers have their own choice in CMS as they can do their job faster as compared to coding which could take them a month to establish a website irrespective of which Framework (Web Application Framework) they use.

The Argument of Choice Begins

Now here comes a question,

“Which is the best to use, Framework or CMS?”

Lots of people (mostly Nerds!) say that Framework is best for your project, because they love to do Coding! Coding! And Coding!
Because with code, you are able to do a lot of customization according to the requirement of the project that you are going to start. For this purpose, I will need to know about coding.
But what would I do if I am not a coder?
1. Should I learn to do coding?
2. Should I hire a coder to do the project for me?
Or
3. Should I try to buy a running project that matches my requirements?

Keeping in mind the concerns in the form of the above stated questions, a very simple solution come to my mind.

The answer is, CMS (Content Management System).

Due to its ease of use and accessibility, the pro CMS lot will surely win the argument over the pro Framework lot. Moreover, the CMS is almost ready to launch a project with lots of customizing options like Drags and Drops which will clearly make it a winner; therefore, I think the CMS is best for my project.
Then again, this is my viewpoint. If you want to start a project for yourself or for a client and you are a newbie in development field you must know the differences between CMS and Framework to decide what’s best for the project.
Here is a comparison between CMS and Framework with respect to their functionality.

Comparison between CMS and Framework

CMS (Content Management System):

1. CMS provides the very basic and nice functionality for creating a project. CMS has most commonly used modules that are basic for any project’s functionality.
2. There are number of modules already available for running a project, also known as “Plug-in”. Good thing is that most plug-in are free of cost and easy to customize.
3. If you are going to launch a project with multiple website then CMS has the ability to handle multiple websites under a single umbrella.
4. Ready to use dashboard with highly customizing options with a single mouse click which requires no expertise in coding.
5. Most importantly, function of a CMS is its ‘Mobile Readiness’. In this age of smart devices, everybody wants to open website on their smart devices while they are in a car, in bed or where desktop/laptop is not available with them. Mobile readiness is a top of the list function, with which CMS has taken majority world wide web’s face.
6. Good for e-commerce projects.

Framework:

1. On the other hand the framework provides the very nice and highly customizable development tools for your project that could be any kind of project like an E-commerce website like Amazon.com, Ebay.com etc.
2. If you want to add modules in your project of your own choice you have the freedom to create them, at any level of customizing option that will be suitable for you after the deployment phase of that project.
3. Love to have a customized Car Dashboard? While using the framework you can have customized dashboard of your own choice and functionalists, that you think will give ease of use to handle your project.
4. Hate to get boxed? You will never get restricted in while using the Framework. You will always have lots of options for your project to resolve any kind of issue.
5. From Coding side, Framework is quickly customizable and highly secure against hackers.
6. Best for e-commerce projects.

In Conclusion

The battle between CMS and Framework can go on and on forever. Coding nerds will go with framework because of their love for Coding. But when it comes to shortage of resources like Coders then you have to rely on CMS systems, but it doesn’t mean that you will never ever need coding or a coder if you are using CMS for your project. In case you ran out of options within CMS and you have to make changes in your project, coding comes into action. So, choose wisely and economically whether you want to use CMS or you have to with Framework.

Tayyab