Foreword

Ray and Vladimir have been THE BEST thing to happen to Magento ever since X.Commerce.

Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration..., but it remains true that besides the software itself, Magento has always thrived on the dedication and enthusiasm of its large community. Ray and Vladimir are prime examples of the literally hundreds of developers, merchants, project managers, extension providers, event organizers, and platform evangelists that contribute every day to help community members make the most of their Magento shop.

I met Ray and Vladimir in the early days of Magento and got to know them as two highly engaged Magento fanatics. They built shops, extended the functionality, and pushed Magento to its limits. Failed and succeeded more often than anyone can count. More importantly, they were always generous enough to share their learning with the community through blog posts, webinars, events, and as Magento Doctors!

After a not-to-be-specified number of days, the announcement—we finally have Magento 2! If there are two people in our community capable of taking a deep pe into this new amazing platform and giving us practical recipes, it will be Ray and Vladimir.

I look forward to seeing what we can make happen in this new chapter for Magento. A lot of things will change and this book will help you get started with over 50 recipes.

One thing, however, will never change: don't touch the core...

Guido Jansen

Magento Community Manager