I decided to do the same thing myself after using OSCommerce for a while. I've been working on a custom built shopping cart system made from scratch over the last few weeks. It certainly is quite a task but I think it will be worth it in the end. Trying to find and implement other peoples code/plugins into a shopping cart you're not 100% familiar with can be difficult and time consuming at times. I find with my own system it's much easier and quicker to add features/functionality because I understand how it all works and how it comes together in the bigger picture. I've also focused on making it easy to drop into existing website designs so it's flexible and doesn't have a tacked on feel. Of course there is lots of work and ironing out bugs initially, but as different people ask for different features/fixes the cart will develop, you don't need every conceivable feature initially, just focus on the important parts and build on it over time.
Security wise I think custom built carts have the potential of being more secure as they are less popular. I would imagine hackers would prefer to find weaknesses in popular carts so their efforts can be applied to many websites not just a few. Although indeed time needs to be spent making sure everything is as secure as possible.
Anyway it is something you can do and it is a rewarding experience to see your own cart it in action, it took me a few weeks to have a "fully" functional shopping cart system up and running, however there are so many little bits and pieces that need to be done you'll probably be fine tuning it for a long time after. I wouldn't recommend spending time developing a shopping cart from scratch for just one website but if you're going to use it on multiple websites it might be worth it. |