At the recently held MageC onf conference in Kiev   , Magento spoke about the capabilities of the next version of its platform - Magento 2. Since it was not possible to personally attend the report, we turned to the project's system architect Dmitry Soroka for comments.

- So, what changes has the new version undergone, what are the key differences from Magento 1.x?

- We did not aim to rewrite everything from scratch. The main task of the Magento 2 project is to fix the errors and inconveniences that were made during the creation of the first version due to the short time period that was allocated for its development. Actually, the refactoring process is aimed at improving the quality of the system. So, for example, fully automated testing is introduced, from unit tests to functional tests.

Another key goal is to improve the modularity of the system. Magento is now modular, but module developers have not always had the full flexibility to modify and supplement existing functionality. In Magento 2, we are trying to improve the environment in which they will develop their modules. The development of modules is one of the highest priority areas, it significantly affects the further development of products built on the basis of Magento.

And, of course, one of the important tasks is to improve system performance.

The system has a large number of users, and performance issues are very pressing. We are working very intensively in this direction.

I would also like to mention the simplification of development for Magento. This applies to both the front-end (we are switching to jQuery as the main library) and deeper levels, up to the admin area, which is also divided into modules, to provide more flexibility for developers.

- With regard to performance - this problem was very relevant for previous versions. What will change in the new one?

- Recommendations for server capacity and load capacity are available publicly, in the whitepapers, which come out with each release. But yes, Magento 2 performance is a key issue that we will be bringing to an optimal level. I cannot give specific figures now, the exact amount of work has not yet been determined, but the fact that it will be increased by an order of magnitude is for sure.

- What framework does Magento use?

- Magento actually extends Zend Framework. Rather, it is used as the main source of library components: data access layer through Zend_Db, caching through Zend_Cache, localization through Zend_Locale, etc. We use many ready-made components - they are already implemented, why implement them again.

But on top of these components, the Magento Framework is built, with which, in fact, the developer deals - for example, when creating new themes. Modularity is also implemented at the level of our own framework.

- As for backward compatibility of plugins for different versions, will this problem be relevant?

- Yes, the problem will be very urgent.

This will be the first Magento release to be incompatible with previous versions. The changes in the kernel are quite significant, but at the same time the new version has a huge number of advantages that I voiced earlier - modularity, improved performance, testability, etc.

But we took into account the fact that every extension developer will have to migrate to this version. All backward incompatible changes are clearly documented, and in the process of migrating our own modules, which were developed in-house, we developed a set of utilities to automate the migration of some parts of the system. Thus, the developers will be provided with documentation and a set of tools that will facilitate the migration process itself.

- Will the company stimulate in any way the retraining of developers, popularize the new version of the system?

- Speaking on a global scale, the company has training classes (unfortunately, not yet in Ukraine, but this issue is being resolved and is a very high priority). But we do not assume that those people who have worked with the first version for a long time will one day be confronted with the fact - here's the second, and do whatever you want. The transition process will be gradual.

To facilitate the learning and migration process, we have already released the Magento 2.0 code for open access - people can follow how it develops and is supplemented. Detailed documentation  is also available  - by the way, unlike the first version, which came out completely without accompanying documentation, everything was created during operation.

With the second version, everything is different - the development process is carefully documented, and all this is in the public domain. Interested developers can track what is changing and how. Accordingly, at the time of release, those who tracked all the changes will already be ready for development on Magento 2, the program will be covered with training classes for new developers, plus there will be a separate class for those who will migrate from the old version.

- How does Magento 2 fit into eBay's overall development strategy? The question is very large-scale, but is it possible to outline certain trends?

- Yes, the question is very global, let's try to decompose it a little and go down to the Magento level. EBay itself is a huge corporation, with 25 thousand employees, owning many companies, and its main sources of income are, in fact, the eBay platform, PayPal payment system and the website developer GSI Commerce, which was also bought by eBay this year.

The "foundation" on which these three divisions operate is, in fact, the X.Commerce system. The main strategy of the corporation at present is the introduction of innovations at the X.Commerce level, a large part of which, in fact, is Magento. Including us, about 800 developers are currently working on the project. X.Commerce has divisions that develop infrastructure for the community.

In turn, the task of X.Commerce is to provide developers with an environment in which they can develop new functional elements, for example, order management systems, integration with eBay. But these developments will be conducted in a standardized language. What it is - X.Commerce has a project called Ontology. Its goal is to provide the whole world of e-commerce in a normalized form, for example, if there is an order, then what attributes it should have, etc., that is, going down from the domain level, fully disclose the structure, the entities included in it and the relationships between them. Based on these standards, developers will be able to operate with the same terminology and concepts.

At the heart of X.Commerce is the "Fabric" - a bus for passing messages between applications and some functionality. A clear advantage (as well as a global vision of development) of such a system lies in the unification of the interfaces for the interaction of programs and functionalities.

For example, we have a payment option integrated into X.Commerce and supporting several payment systems - PayPal,  Aut horize.net, CyberSource, etc. Accordingly, the application developer has two options - integration with the selected payment system directly, or through X.Commerce. The scope of work will be approximately comparable. But integration using X.Commerce makes it easy to connect the application to all existing payment systems, otherwise each payment option will have to be implemented separately. Accordingly, if new payment systems enter the market, the support of which will be integrated into X.Commerce, the application's capabilities will grow accordingly. Providers of such expandable functionality can be payment systems, marketplaces, social networks, etc., the set of possibilities is quite large.

All applications can have a standard delivery module that allows both synchronous and asynchronous integrations, since the PubSub methodology does not imply synchronous integration. X.Commerce will expand with utilities, additional levels, one of which, for example, will be Bridge, which allows working with the "Factory" in a synchronous mode.

Magento in this architecture is a consumer of the functionality provided by X.Commerce. That is, the payment systems integrated into X.Commerce are accessed by Magento through the X.Commerce interface. For Magento, in turn, this is just an additional module built on top of the standard module for communication with the "Factory".

Currently, the development of the Multi-marketplace module is underway, which implements the integration of the Magento catalog with the marketplace. Currently, the module only works with eBay, but X.Commerce is looking for ways to attract other big players such as Amazon, etc. Accordingly, using this module, the developer gets integration with all supported stores.

- You spoke about the advantages of the new platform mainly from the developer's side. What are the benefits for a customer, a user of a Magento 2 product?

- First of all, it is that we facilitate the development of new products. Development is simpler, it can be done faster, therefore, it will cost the customer less.

- Magento opens its own Connect app store, can you tell us more about it?

- Part of Magento 1.x is a huge set of extensions - additional modules, applications and themes. The app store allows the developer to share his developments, and the store owner - to expand its functionality.

There are three editions of Magento, from simple to more advanced - Community, Professional and Enterprise, in addition, there is Magento Go cloud service. Extensions intended only for older editions are incompatible with minor editions, but backward compatibility is present. The cloud service actually has the functionality of the Enterprise edition.

Thus, the global strategy of the store is to give the developer the opportunity to present their application in all possible markets - from Community to Go.