Magento 1 vs Magento 2: Top 10 Differences between M1 & M2 (2021)

Magento is a popular PHP-based open-source eCommerce software. Magento launched initially on March 31, 2008, 13 years ago. In the middle of the year, 2015 Magento 2.0 initial version was released.

Magento 1 reached its End of Life on June 30, 2020.

On a High-Level Magento 2 Outperforms Magento 1 with new features like Streamlined Checkout, mobile responsiveness, advanced reporting, built-in support for full page cache, Varnish and Redis cache, REST API Support, etc.

1. Technical Stack

Magento 1.x older edition was supported till PHP 5.5 version. Currently, Magento 2.x runs only on PHP 7 version with improved performance and security enhancements.

Magento 2.x is built on top of the latest technology stack, including HTML5, CSS3, Knockout JS, RequireJS, LESS CSS preprocessor.

Magento 1.x is built based on the Zend framework, whereas Magento 2.x is based on Symfony Framework

2. Command Line Interface

Magento 2.x comes with a Built-in Powerful Command Line Interface (CLI).

CLI performs many utility tasks like cache cleaning. The module enables/disable code compilation, static content deployment, maintenance mode, Index management, installing third-party packages via composer, and switching between development and production mode.

CLI feature is not available in Magento 1.x versions.

3. The composer as Package Manager

Magento 2.x uses composer for installing third-party dependencies. Whereas Magento 1.x doesn’t have such a package management tool.

4. RequireJS and KnockoutJS integration

Magento 1.x used PrototypeJS library as a javascript framework.

Magento 2.x uses the RequireJS library for implementing the

Asynchronous Module Definition (AMD). RequireJS facilitates the javascript module system throughout the eCommerce application.

Knockout JS (KO) javascript library that implements Model-View-View Model (MVVM) pattern.

5. LESS CSS Preprocessor

Magento 2 uses LESS(stands for Leaner Style Sheets) CSS Preprocessor. With LESS, UI developers can write code in CSS-like language. The advantage of using LESS code is the UI Developer doesn’t have to worry about the vendor prefix and browser compatibility. It will be taken care of by the CSS Preprocessor.

During runtime, LESS code will be converted and deployed as CSS code. This process is called static content deployment, where the JS and CSS will be deployed in the specified path.

6. Built-in Responsive Web Design Support

Magento 2.x default installation comes with two default themes called Blank theme and Luma theme. Both themes come with the Responsive design Integrated. Using the Child Theme concept new theme can be created by keeping the Blank theme as the Base. UI development time is considerably reduced using this approach.

7. Automatic Dependency Injection

Magento 2 architecture uses the object manager concept to implement automatic dependency injection.

A developer can specify the required objects in the constructor arguments, Magento will automatically instantiate the corresponding class and provide the object to use.

Magento 1 has no concept of dependency injection.

8. Cleaner Rewrites using Plugin System

Magento 1.x has the class rewrite/override feature; a module developer can completely redefine a base class by extending it to a child class.

However, there are a few problems with this approach. Once a class is extended, another module cannot extend the same base class.

To solve the above problem, Magento 2.x introduces a new concept called plugin, A plugin, or interceptor, is a class that modifies the behaviour of public class functions by intercepting a function call and running code before, after, or around that function call.

The above approach will rewrite the entire class. Still, the specified function behavior can be changed before/after the execution.

Magento 2.x also provides the preference feature, similar to the old Magento 1.x rewrite.

9. ORM and Repository Pattern

The Object Relation Mapper (ORM)Feature is still the same concept in Magento 1 and 2 versions. However, the implementation is slightly different in Magento 2.x.

The repository pattern in Magento 2.x allows more decoupling by separating the data retrieval and business logic. The repository carries out the load and saves operations(data retrieval and storage) of an object. The loaded object from the repository can be used in the application.

10. Admin UI Component

Magento2 Admin Panel UI Interface is user-friendly and intuitive. UI Component is a new approach used to build the admin grids. One Advantage of this UI Component is once a Component is defined, it can reuse it in other places.

Is it necessary for me to update to Magento 2?

No. Magento does not compel users to update to Magento 2. If you do not update to Magento 2, your store will not go away. However, Magento is discontinuing support for Magento 1, which will leave your Magento 1 business vulnerable to a variety of security threats.

Furthermore, Magento 2 offers more advanced features than Magento 1. M2 is safer, faster, more optimised, and cleaner than M1.

Know more,
Dowload Case Study- Magneto migration for a leading US Retailer

How do I make the switch to Magento 2?

Migrating may be accomplished in four simple steps:

• Customizations for Theme Migration
• Using a Data Migration Tool to Migrate Data
• Extension Migration
• Code Migration Tool is used for migration.

Final Thoughts

On every metric, Magento 2 outperforms Magento 1. There are, however, more tutorials, tools, and forums centred on Magento 1. Because Magento 1 has been around for a long time, it has taken up a lot of space. However, over time, Magento 2 will occupy the same or more online space.

The most significant aspect is the Magento community’s support for frequent fixes. Magento 1 will be defeated. If you are using Magento 1 and need assistance, please contact us or visit our website.

Blog Authored by: Ramesh Pushparaj