FN-FORUM: Self code or package?

date posted 6th January 2006 19:05

I'm interested in people's opinions about this.

I have seen a few people saying 'use osCommerce' etc., and just wondered if
this is the general practice?

I had a few customers last year that had major problems with osCommerce due
to PHP being upgraded by the ISP's. I have also had a few people with phpBB
problems.

Another route is packages that generate the code for you. One customer had
been using php maker for a couple of years & seemed surprised when the code
stopped working & she didn't have the knowledge to fix the errors.

My preferred route is to hand code sites as per customer's requirements. If
I need to make changes, I know the code is well commented & structured so
that changes are not a problem. The customer gets exactly what they ask for
rather than the closest the package can produce, plus I can make use of the
latest features of whichever language I am using. I suppose this is why the
majority of my customers are web designers.

Any thoughts?