>I was just wondering why people would use a commercial framework for anything but small projects?
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>Do you have people using it for larger projects? It seems like a crutch to learning the .NET Framework or whatever framework it is using. For something, small where you did to get a product out right away it seems ideal, but for a large application that will be used for years, it seems to have more potential problems then benefits.
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Hi Morgan.
I'm sure Kevin or someone else will give you an answer but I thought I would jump in for a word or 2. We have the MM framework precisely because we are starting a large project. With 4 of us developing, even if we could spend full time on this project, the full scope of it is a couple of years in the making. I think the development time is going to be considerably shorter because of the framework. It also helps us utilize some good basic OOP proctices. Some of our early .NET work without the framework was pretty ugly.

When looking into the frameworks, I think you need to ask yourself...
1) Is it a framework or a "bag of goodies"? A bag of goodies can be great but it is not a well thought out structure for the foundation of project?
2) Does it have a large enough scope to really be a foundation for what you are doing?
3) Is it Rigid or Flexable & Extensible? If you can't extend and modify its functionalites to match your needs, then you are right about being trapped by the framework. Actually, you would always put a layer of inheritance between you and the framework anyway, so that should give you a measure of flexability.

As a downside, if your are just learning .NET and you get a framework, you have to learn the framework too. In the long run that is a small price to pay.

Regards,