Is oscommerce outdated? [closed]

Question

Is OSCommerce outdated?

I recently started working for a web development company that uses it a lot and I noticed the code base is really messy and has a lot of older php code in there. Being used to something nice like cakePHP or drupal I wasn't too impressed with it.

Is it worth using any more? Is there a decent port of OSC that is updated and easy to transfer existing stores to? bonus points if it has a plug in system that isn't a hack fest.

Right now I'm looking at Zen-cart, Ubercart and Magento as alternatives. Would you recommend anything else?

ThankYou

Fishback

Personally, I find Zen Cart as bad as osCommerce. Magento and CubeCart are definitely two good, more modern shopping carts. – Roseline

Update regarding osCommerce, Version 3.0 was released March 31st 2011 and is a major improvement over past versions – Doubs

AS far as I know the latest released version is osCommerce Online Merchant v2.3. There is a 3.0 but it's in alpha and not recommended for use. – Brott

Answer 1

Is OSCommerce outdated?

That depends on how you would define outdated. If you are using a v1.0, then yes. But osCommerce is still actively maintained and developed. The current development version is osCommerce 3.0 Alpha 5.

I recently started working for a web development company that uses it a lot and I noticed the code base is really messy and has a lot of older php code in there. Being used to something nice like cakePHP or drupal I wasn't too impressed with it.

I am sure you can find prettier architectures. I looked at the source code briefly and can confirm there is a number of things considered code smells nowadays, like lots of defined constants, global keywords and such. The codebase is old-fashioned compared to today's standards, but that's the way it is with long running systems that have evolved over many years. Old fashioned doesnt necessarily mean outdated though.

Is it worth using any more? Is there a decent port of OSC that is updated and easy to transfer existing stores to? bonus points if it has a plug in system that isn't a hack fest.

osCommerce is a mature product. And like said in the beginning, it is actively maintained. You shouldnt base the application's worth on the codebase alone. Wordpress would be worthless then. And CakePHP isnt exactly famous for it's codebase either. A client you will install ocCommerce for is rarely interested in the codebase, but rather in if the system can satisfy his or her requirements to a shop system.

Right now I'm looking at Zen-cart, Ubercart and Magento as alternatives. Would you recommend anything else?

There is also xtCommerce which forked from osCommerce a few years ago. This is not meant as recommendation though. I find it hard to recommend a shop system from the vast amount of systems out there without knowing any requirements.

On a sidenote: if you want to collect software metrics about osCommerce, head over to phpqatools.org and run some tools over, gather statistics and compare it to some other shop systems.

Electrocardiogram

Answer 2

Short answer: Yes

I can not tell you anything about the version 3 (alpha items on their roadmap) but if you are using a 2.x you are basicly stuck in 2006, compared to other shopping solutions like magento (which I like to call 'the diva' because everything comes with a price).

Kreitman

Answer 3

OSCommerce is older than simmons... AND SIMMONS IS OLD!

Avoid it like the plague.

Magento and Cube Cart are decent. Would go for Symfony if you're looking for and upgrade from cake or drupal. :-)

Darkroom

been meaning to give Symfony a go. – Fishback

lol, all I get for Simmons is the mattress... – Fishback

Just how is Symfony a shopping system? – Electrocardiogram

It's not. It's an upgrade from Cake or Drupal, which aren't shopping systems either. – Darkroom

Since when is Symfony based on Cake or Drupal? – Electrocardiogram

I think the idea is that it's not – Fishback

@Electrocardiogram I think he means it's a step up, not literally an upgrade – Adar

@Fishback then what is the upgrade to Symfony? ZF? CI? Lithium? Flow3? Sorry, but the answer is fanboy gibberish to me. Just because a system exists for a long time doesnt make it outdated and just because Magento is the current big thing doesnt mean it has a good codebase. In fact, Magento is often used as an example for a bad codebase at PHP conferences. – Electrocardiogram

I could say that because a system is around for a long time it becomes outdated.. more becasue of backwards compatabilty and reusing code than anything else. I never said anything was an upgrade, except really anything other than OSC. Magento's code may not be perfect but It cannot be as bad as OSC.. why are you going on about fanboys? – Fishback

@Fishback Regarding Fanboyism: I was refering to Homer's answer, not yours. While I agree Symfony is better than Cake, there is no mystical framework upgrade path - Regarding Outdated: just because an application doesnt use the latest design trends doesnt make it outdated, just not fashionable - Regarding Magento: if you want a fair code comparison between Magento and osCommerce, collect and compare their software metrics. – Electrocardiogram

Sorry Gordon... what I should have said is... "If you want to embrace mysticism, use Symfony; and if you want to be fashionable, avoid osCommerce"... no wait... my comments were based on years of real world, first hand experiences with the packages in question, not rhetoric from PHP conferences... I meant what I said – Darkroom

Answer 4

osCommerce 2.x.x is bit outdated for following reasons:

1. No MVC concept. This makes maintenance a real difficult and when one error is fixed another might pop in.

2. Architecture is from 2001. With advancement in concept architecture has become very important. So benefits of newer design concepts not used.

3. Security issue : Lots of plugins that are not secured as they are not updated. osCommerce out of box is secured for its latest version.

Caledonian

Answer 5

Not Yet, You can work on Version 3. Oscommerce has good community rather than others. and most important things Oscommerce is complete GUI License with huge code library. Like other e-commerce has many restriction and limitation and most are paid.

Thats why we can't say that oscommerce is outdated right now but in future we say anythings,

Well

Answer 6

osCommerce 2.x is built on technology from 2001-2002 (The Exchange Project). Over the years they have added som patches and paint to make it stand. So yeah it's pretty outdated. Always has been.

The last version 2.3.1 is the biggest rewrite so far (not counting 3.0). I would say there is still work to be done on this one as well.

osCommerce 3.0 is just a framework. It has no features for adding products or categories yet. It's just for developers who want to contribute to the next generation osCommerce.

Mistook