Magento 2.0: What Was Changed, What Was Improved, and What Did We Get as a Result?

Magento engine has been helping to create high-quality online shops and services for online sales for many years. Despite the fact that Magento 2.0 version was released a long time ago and the current version of the CMS system is 2.4.4, we will consider both versions and start with version 2.0.

At the time of the release of version 2.0 there were a lot of controversy and questions to the creators, despite their promises and presentations. This is not surprising, because such "numbered" releases are always accompanied by distrust, intrigue and users' hopes for something very interesting. The way the world of technology works, the transitions from version 1.0 to 2.0 should be promising. The crucial day of the product launch has arrived, and what did the audience get?

New Technologies

Magento 2.0 was a direct continuation of the previous versions and improved upon them.  Here's what list of new technologies the updated version got:

• HTML5;
• CSS3;
• Apache 2.2;
• PHP 5.5.x;
• PSR compliance;
• Magento user interface library;
• CSS preprocessor;
• a set of tools for working with Magento.

Simplified Work With the Interface

Since the system has received support for HTML5 and CSS processor, the work with the appearance of sites has become many times easier.

Improved Customization Processes

The editor has become many times easier and clearer. Therefore, it became easier to work with the visual part. For example, the "drag and drop" and "drag to edit" options appeared.

This innovation has simplified the work on the site, because you can make some changes in the site from the panel in the admin area, without knowledge of the code.

Improved Interaction With the Community

It was during the transition to version 2.0 that the company introduced various events for community members, introduced courses and training programmes for working and managing the engine.

Improved Documentation and Testing

All user needs have been taken into account while developing the new version, and the framework that has been incorporated into the testing algorithms allows tests to be run continuously.

Improved Scalability and Performance Metrics

The company has worked hard to improve the indexers, new Magento Performance Toolbox, Varnish Cache. The new indexers accompany more efficient updates to speed up execution processes and improve performance.

Varnish Cache is responsible for keeping the load on the servers lower, making the website and shop pages load much faster.

New Structure

The developers have touched the file structure. It has received two significant changes:

1. Each module has its own view directory. There, the user gets access to all possible templates and files from any module.
2. Everything is placed under the structure of the application itself.

Platform Compatibility

Version 2.0 uses PHP 5.3 and Zend Framework for performance management of caching mechanisms. At the same time, the system supports MS SQL. This is a big plus for Windows 

Platform Server.

jQuery Library 

jQuery is one of the most popular platforms for JavaScript library users. The trick of version 2.0 is that jQuery is used by default. It's a handy innovation for developers.

Improved Performance

A combination of changes and innovations resulted in an average 20% performance increase for Magento-based sites.

Catalogue Structure

It has also undergone changes. Many innovations were made, and one of the key ones was the appearance of a catalogue called "Pub".

Testing in Automatic Mode

The automatic testing system allows developers not just to set up automatic testing, but also to set server validation steps. How does this affect the site? By making its defences more robust.

Designers have added a new "-bar" index to keep code safe from hacks.

jQuery JavaScript Framework

We've already written that jQuery is installed by default. This has greatly simplified the work and reduced the number of problems with JavaScript when compared to version 1.0.

Since the release of version 2.0, it's been a year and many patches that have brought Magento to the point where it can rightfully be called the most powerful and advanced content management system on the market.

There have been many changes over the last few years and the system has been completely repurposed for the digital sales sector. As a consequence, the requirements both to the system itself and to the skills of developers have grown considerably.  Here, for example, are the requirements for hosting (minimum):

• Composer 2.1;
• Elasticsearch 7.16 or Open Search 1.2;
• MariaDB database server version 10.4 or MySQL version 8.0;
• PHP — at least version 8.1;
• Web server Apache 2.4 or Nginx 1.18;
• Redis 6.2;
• Varnish 7.0.

Operating system for working with CMS — Linux (macOS or Windows are not suitable).

There are some special requirements for PHP libraries (curl, GD, hash, mbstring, intl, OpenSSL, etc.).

The hashing system is Opcache, and the minimum amount of RAM is 2GB. If the memory size is not enough, you will have to increase the size of the swap file.

The system no longer supports work with self-signed SSL certificates. Now you need to get a certificate through official service providers.

If you want to work with email distribution, you will have to use an SMTP-gateway or MTA-agent.

It is important to note a number of changes compared to the previous version (2.4.0):

• support for current versions of PHP language (at least version 8.1) has been added;
• engines (Elasticsearch or Open Search) became mandatory;
• there is now support for GraphQL;
• there is integration of payments from Braintree;
• default two-factor authorization for admins;
• API endpoints are now protected by captcha if associated with payments;
• API endpoints can also limit processing speed to reduce the likelihood of DoS attacks;
• anti-malicious content (if a user tries to save it in product description fields) has been implemented;
• Page Builder is now an embedded open source extension;
• email address templates have been revised;
• third-party libraries were updated;
• naturally, bugs, errors, vulnerabilities of the previous version were fixed.

Yes, the system has become more demanding (the influence of Adobe has not gone unnoticed), the demands for specialists have increased. But is it so bad? The system has increased not only the requirements, but has also become many times more functional and productive. Yes, now to work with it, it is necessary to cooperate with specialists from the sphere. But the client gets a digital product that will fulfil his needs and wishes in the sales sector. Also, the product regularly develops, grows and remains flexible, convenient, familiar.