Taking over a project. Should I scrap and rebuild? [closed]

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I'm taking over an Opencart solution for a client. This is for my capstone at College. I'm to create a simple CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software that will live as a single page application in the site.

Opencart is a free, open-source e-commerce platform based on the LAMP stack.

Currently, the client's site is live, but it is not a store, and will never be a store. They have 5 registered users. The site just has content, and little functionality.

Should I convince the Client to scrap and rebuild what he has?

I have some concern with the current solution because it seems to be far too complex for the needs of the project.

Thanks for any insight.

Answer 1

"Too complex" is a common concern for new developers, but consider that this is a working solution for them right now. Working now beats better in six months, nine times out of nine. Also, as a new developer, please consider that re-implementing anything from scratch will take several times longer than you expect, is statistically unlikely to fulfil even the current business requirements (including the hugely important hidden ones which the client won't know to even formulate until they use a system without them), and that today's "too complex" solution allows the clients needs to grow without having to implement something new.

If nothing else, remember that rebuilding should always be the very last resort. You may want to do some sexy greenfield project, but this doesn't sound like the right place for it.