[ksec]

I actually want a more refined version, with better ( or different ) syntax of old PHP.

And I really like you touch on low barrier to entry. Right now, in my likely controversial opinion, modern Web Dev is a huge pile of excess complexity.

[eurasiantiger]

The web has always been inherently complex, so it is only logical that frameworks for building things on the web have evolved to tackle all the possible complexity. Of course also the introduction of handheld devices and duplex multimedia features has made the web more complex, but mostly we just didn’t care 20 years ago, because we could get away with less. Now, more and more things are exposed to us every day, requiring us to grok it all to be able to make day-to-day decisions.

No wonder so many people turn to magical thinking, cargo cult coding or Uncle Bob -like messiahs.