Yeah Hand coding has always been the best way. I can't stand when people come out of college using WYSIWYG editors and get the jobs while people who can hand code are looked over because it takes longer and we may not know how to use the design features in something like Dreamweaver. I guarantee though that our code is more sustainable and we know more about whats going on with the website than those who just drag and drop.
This was my attitude until I began to use WordPress extensively. I proved it to myself by converting my "fabulous" hand-coded main site into a WP site in a day!!! One day...
I'll never go back to hand coding, but those skills allow me tweek WP and understand what goes on behind the scenes. You can't fight progress.
When I was "in school", I learned to program in assembly -among other languages you never heard of - now who does that anymore?? I took a refresher course in Java awhile back and the instructor didn't know assembly.
Joomla - more difficult. And very few free theme choices. I vote for WP.