What is DALT?

DALT is a learning framework where you can see and understand everything. It's not for building production apps - it's for understanding how web applications actually work.

The Learning Problem

Most tutorials give you perfect code to copy-paste. You never see how things break or why they work. Production frameworks like Laravel hide complexity behind abstractions - you can build apps without understanding what's happening.

DALT takes the opposite approach. The entire framework is ~1,000 lines of readable PHP. You write real SQL queries, handle security yourself, and see exactly how routing, sessions, and authentication work. When something breaks, you can read the code and fix it.

What You Actually Get

DALT provides structure without hiding complexity. Routes, database access, authentication, and validation are already set up, so you don't waste time on boilerplate. But you see exactly how they work.

You write SQL with prepared statements - no ORM hiding the queries. You see $_SESSION arrays directly - no magic session handling. You add CSRF tokens to forms yourself - no automatic protection. This is intentional. You learn by doing it yourself.

Who Should Use DALT

DALT is for anyone learning backend development. If you're new to web apps, DALT shows you how routing, databases, and authentication actually work. If you're experienced with frameworks, DALT shows you what's happening behind the abstractions.

The framework includes optional lessons and debugging challenges to help you get started. But the real learning happens when you build your own projects - a blog, an API, whatever you want. You'll understand every line of code because you can read the framework itself.

What DALT Is Not

DALT is not trying to compete with Laravel or Symfony. It doesn't have their features and shouldn't. It's a learning tool, not a production framework.

You won't find an ORM, a template engine, or code generators. That's intentional - DALT stays small so you can understand it completely. When you're ready for those features, you'll know enough to add them yourself or move to Laravel with a solid understanding of what it's doing for you.

Why PHP?

PHP is perfect for learning backend development. It's closer to the web than other languages - HTTP, sessions, and cookies are native concepts. You see $_GET and $_POST directly instead of framework abstractions. There's less magic, which means more understanding.

The Philosophy

You learn by building, not by reading. DALT's code is the documentation. When you need to know how the router works, you open framework/Core/Router.php and read 200 lines of clear PHP. You're not just learning DALT - you're learning how web applications fundamentally work.