I am a decent php programmer. I had been learning python for some time due to the django hype. But now I find that I don't like django that much. Reason being it does a bit too much by itself. I prefer frameworks like codeigniter as they let me focus on writing php instead of learning about the framework. Its small, so when i encounter a problem, i can debug it relatively easily.There is no cli tool (not that i don't like them, i personally think php is too simple for them), no automatic code generation etc. No magic at all. I can plug in stuff like doctrine easily, and remove it too if it messes up things
But the thing is i have started liking python much more than php, I keep coding stuff in it to automate some day-to-day tasks. And from what i have read about ruby, its as interesting as python.
Are their frameworks in python and ruby which offer as much freedom as codeigniter, or is their some way i can use django and rails in the same way, i.e., using a basic skeleton most of the time and adding only the things i need.
As i write this question, i can see that this can be done easily in django, by adding/removing various imports (please tell me if its correct), however, i'd love to hear about other lightweight, magic-less frameworks and also if rails can be made into one the way django can be.
UPDATE:
by magic, i mean a framework which necessarily does things which i find hard to understand and hence cannot customize easily. Also codeigniter's "philosophy" of not tying you to any strict coding standards is what i love, i love the freedom and ease of use. I like seperating the MVC's, as i have seen its use. But, codeigniter allows overriding this behavior if required very easily. Also, i just started making a facebook app in django (my very first django app, after tuts and books) with only the sessions app installed and am reading the docs thoroughly before importing anything necessary, loving it.
