About OpenCart ..

About OpenCart ..

Recently, due to the idea of creating online stores, as a superficial programmer, I thought about downloading an open-source e-commerce system. With no experience, I found a lot of information on the Internet and thought OpenCart was good, so I started to play with it.

The advantage of Opencart is its ease of installation, fast speed, clear directory structure, and the MVC + L architecture. Therefore, it is very convenient to view its source code, clear and easy to understand, and powerful functions. Generally, we only need to develop a front-end template, so that our website can be launched. I downloaded the latest version 2.3.0.2, which is very different from the previous version. There are very few online materials for developing a topic. After a week of viewing the source code, you can get a general idea about the process of developing a topic. Let's talk about it here:

1. OpenCart versions are incompatible and there is no technical document to describe the differences. If the plug-in developed for the current version is no longer available in the next version, you need to modify the new version to make it more difficult to upgrade OpenCart. Imagine if you have used the OpenCart2.3 system and customized the function plug-ins. One day, the more powerful version 2.5 came into being and you would like to use it again. Then there is only one option to re-develop the plug-in, openCart itself cannot be upgraded with one click.

2. The OpenCart2.3 topic does not use the template engine. This is perhaps my least favorite. Of course, this is a matter of opinion and wisdom. Version 2.3 adds the layout function to divide a page into a left + center + right structure, and then add modules in each structure. This idea is very good, reducing the difficulty of website maintenance. All page management does not need to write code, just add and delete modules. However, I think it is a bit superfluous for technicians with relevant knowledge, especially Html technicians. If we want to add a recommendation product module and use the template engine, there are several lines of code, but the implementation in OpenCart is too complicated. First, we need to develop a module (according to opencart specifications), install it in Opencart, and write the module configuration page (the module page size, number of products, etc ), and then add it to the layout function. In particular, the development of modules is cumbersome. I personally think it is not suitable for small websites. The R & D cost is high and the cycle is complex.

3. The majority of Opencart plug-ins are charged. Of course, this is not to say that the charges are not good. For those who want to learn about Opencart plug-in development, there are very few plug-in cases for you to learn. In particular, there are very few official documents that do not match the latest version of plug-in development, if you want to learn about plug-in development, you have to read a lot of Opencart source code.

I personally think about the above spam. please correct me more! Now I have transferred to prestashop, And I am studying now. I have the opportunity to talk to you again!