@ringo @Tony @Sabex to me, joomla is like the c++ of web devel... whole extra abstraction that is not always needed to just get the job done.
I used notepad for my first websites, then broke them up into html + css + javascript, just like three tier database designs (data + logic + presentation).
Now I use vim, since I mainly dally with websites in django/python or php... Clients dictate most of the reqs, like supporting existing codebase/platforms.
And if not oss, then M$oft vb/Access.