The simplest way people define framework is: "don't call me, I'll call you." Therefore frameworks tend worry about life-cycle management (e.g., http request cycle), resource management (e.g., connection pools), and transaction management. Framework doesn't have to be big, CGI::Application is a very lean framework. Frameworks define a method of doing things, as a user, we need to fit into that method. I'd say the quality of a framework has two aspects: does it provide enough to make most things easier, and does it allow easy extensions.