Plan And IdeasosCommerce 3.xThe current areas of focus the development team would like to attract developers in include the following groups:
The core framework for the osCommerce 3.0 release is the most important framework to have been developed for the project so far. It is the first framework to depart from the procedural structure the previous frameworks were based on, to be built on an Object Oriented framework to provide a more secure, stable, and flexible API for the releases to be made in the 3.x version cycle. This will help store owners to easily upgrade their online shop installations when project releases are made, and to integrate add-ons without the need to edit core source code files. Developers that are interested in working on the core framework should look for improvements and optimizations to be made throughout the code-base. LanguagesDevelopers interested in translating and working on a language pack should participate in a group that works together on the language definitions. Usability / User InterfaceDiscussions on usability and user interface improvements for existing features are welcome for both the Catalog side and the Administration Tool. Database OptimizationsThe database structure and queries made should be looked at to minimize bottlenecks and to improve execution speed. osCommerce 4.xDatabase IndependencyThe database class can be worked on to allow different databases to be used in addition to MySQL MyISAM and MySQL InnoDB. For true database independency, discussions on how to separate the queries made into database function modules should be made to be able to take advantage of what the database is able to provide (for example, stored procedures, views, triggers, ..). PrototypesPHP 5 should be used for the next generation framework, with discussions held on how to best achieve this, with the option of bundling an external framework such as the Zend Framework. |