Extension developers, unite!

Within the Magento ecosystem there have always been many extension developers, more specifically many different extension developers. Some only place extensions on GitHub, some only sell ionCube-encrypted extensions. Opinions on extensions and extension development differ, so it seems logical to group extension developers together. ExtDN is an attempt to do so, but with specific rules in mind. For instance, encrypted software is a less preferred, while coding standards are to be kept high.

Raising quality

A requirement for all ExtDN members is to keep the quality of extensions high: Obviously anyone attempting to modify the Magento core will be beat up by a certain Ben Marks. But besides core hacks, other things like coding standards, design principles and testing are important too.

Offering extensions to merchants or agencies is more than just putting the code somewhere online: It is also about documenting its features and its usage, providing support. ExtDN aimes to raise the overall quality of extensions across multiple levels.

Raising a voice

On the other hand, the collaboration of ExtDN is also meant as a way to communicate with the Magento project more easily. Recently, Magento has introduced various changes that also require a change from extension developers: Magento 2 is now heavily relying on composer and the Magento Marketplace requires extension developers to also deal differently when selling extensions to merchants. ExtDN offers a way to communicate in a better way with Magento itself, possibly other parties involved.

Yireo its commitment

We think ExtDN is an awesome initiative and we are grateful to take part in it. To our opinion, our extensions are of quality and we aim to make our support effective and fast. Coding standards are already there. The only area in which we are lacking is testing: We have built for various extensions integration tests, but unit testing is only sporadic.

With the introduction of Magento 2, unit tests have become mainstream and almost a requirement. As part of our migration of Magento 1 extensions to Magento 2, we are already working on refactoring all Magento 1 code to become testable and clean - adding actual tests has become a breeze. Additionally, we have already started to embrace TDD when developing new Magento 2 extensions. So ExtDN fits in nicely with our move to Magento 2.

Hopefully ExtDN will become more known, as a quality assurance but also as a discussion partner of Magento. We'll let you know when things evolve.