Useful article on 10 useful signs to identify crappy PHP project. A summary list,

1. The software tries to reinvent the object model, or “fix” language features.
2. The code includes user defined global variables
3. Scattered HTML and SQL
4. Classes do too much
5. Lots of properties are public or lots of properties are static
6. Multiple levels of inheritance
7. The authors try to use Design Patterns
8. The software messes with the error level
9. In the code base, there is a directory called “core”
10. The software uses it’s own template language.

An article criticizing oscommerce is a nightmare. I could not agree more. I have give up on it long long time ago. The overall structure is a  mess. But if you go to freelance site like scriptlance, getafreelancer. You will notice there are still project that requesting oscommerce application. I think prime reason that there are still demand for oscommerce is because customization is cheap. Lot of the customization on osCommerce is done in hack, direct changes to the core source code. It is a nightmare to maintain, not to mention leaving the site owner without a option to upgrade in the future. Leave security holes wide open because patching a customized copy of oscommerce is very time consuming. So a warning to site owner, you might save some money now but in the long run, you will be paying more.

For a better option, you should look at http://www.magentocommerce.com. One of the better structure shopping cart, based on industry standard framework, Zen Framework. Developer complaint about its complexity, but it is a extensible product. Development might be a bit more expensive, but worth it in the long term. The other option that you might consider is http://www.zen-cart.com as mention in the article.

What are you experience in shopping cart software?

For those who have been hiding under a stone. Firefox 3.5 was release this week. I was happy there was already upgrade for Firebug, Web Developer plugin. I remember the last upgrade 2.x to 3. The plugins were lagging behind the browser release.

(more…)

An interesting article in OS preferences and arguments, from ComputerWorld.

There are ton of good review on the Internet regarding to Firefox 3 performance and stability. Version 2 was a bit disappointing, specially when it is use on Laptop where RAM is always a precious resource. I have try Beta 3 and 4 before, but there is always the issue of lacking plugin compatibility, making me putting it off from upgrading from version 2. I do a lot of web development, therefore Firebug and Web Developer plugin is a must. Public release is not due until June, 2008, 2 months away. I have been waiting since December last year. A long long wait.

(more…)