osCommerce and ZenCart Rant -- I Don't Recommend These
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:46 am
I just want to get the word out that I think F/OSS product catalog is terrible when it does not have a plugin framework, and hopefully something as easy to install or uninstall just like WordPress plugins.
ZenCart is based on osCommerce, so it has the same problem as osCommerce in that the addons are nothing more than "insert this code here and here" kind of instructions. You end up having to do 3-way diff checks in order to apply the addons. The 3 ways are to see:
- your current source, and likely something that is often 2-3 versions behind based on my experience with clients
- the source of the addon you want to apply
- the source of the latest version of osCommerce or ZenCart
You need the last one because sometimes when applying an addon, you have to make a decision whether the source code insertion is part of the addon and necessary, or just part of some future upgrade that you haven't migrated to and not really necessary and worth the hassle to add in from the third diff item, the source of the latest version of osCommerce or ZenCart.
So this creates some really buggy osCommerce and ZenCart installs out there. And I'd hate to base my company on this because with addons and upgrades being so painful, this is why my clients are often like 2 and 3 versions behind the latest version. And if your version is that old, then you're not keeping up with the latest security exploits such as what's listed on Secunia or the product site. That means you can get HACKED, folks. Don't let this be you.
Meanwhile, the way these product catalogs are built are pre-MVC, so they are somewhat spaghetti code. My take? Yeah, leave these projects for the $10/hr guys who claim they can do anything. Don't fall into this trap like I did and take on one of these projects.
It looks like Magento is now the only game in town worth considering. They are also MVC-based. Unfortuantely, however, I have seen first-hand how the product catalog with Magento slows down if you load in hundreds of products, but a couple people tell me that this is fixed now, so I'll have to check that out.
ZenCart is based on osCommerce, so it has the same problem as osCommerce in that the addons are nothing more than "insert this code here and here" kind of instructions. You end up having to do 3-way diff checks in order to apply the addons. The 3 ways are to see:
- your current source, and likely something that is often 2-3 versions behind based on my experience with clients
- the source of the addon you want to apply
- the source of the latest version of osCommerce or ZenCart
You need the last one because sometimes when applying an addon, you have to make a decision whether the source code insertion is part of the addon and necessary, or just part of some future upgrade that you haven't migrated to and not really necessary and worth the hassle to add in from the third diff item, the source of the latest version of osCommerce or ZenCart.
So this creates some really buggy osCommerce and ZenCart installs out there. And I'd hate to base my company on this because with addons and upgrades being so painful, this is why my clients are often like 2 and 3 versions behind the latest version. And if your version is that old, then you're not keeping up with the latest security exploits such as what's listed on Secunia or the product site. That means you can get HACKED, folks. Don't let this be you.
Meanwhile, the way these product catalogs are built are pre-MVC, so they are somewhat spaghetti code. My take? Yeah, leave these projects for the $10/hr guys who claim they can do anything. Don't fall into this trap like I did and take on one of these projects.
It looks like Magento is now the only game in town worth considering. They are also MVC-based. Unfortuantely, however, I have seen first-hand how the product catalog with Magento slows down if you load in hundreds of products, but a couple people tell me that this is fixed now, so I'll have to check that out.