Review By: Lorne Schachter
07/19/2010

Before I started reading Multisite Commerce, I had a pretty simplistic view of the issues involved in building e-commerce websites, thinking about how I would put together the site for a small business. I wasn't five pages into the book before I realized that 1) I didn't know a lot (or really hadn't thought a lot) about the Issues, and 2) I didn't even know everything I didn't know. I started reading through the book and I said to myself, "Yes, that's something else to have to think about in building the site" on almost every page.

Mirlas clearly understands the issues in building complex ecommerce web sites, but more importantly he can explain the issues clearly and understandably. His writing style is engaging and easy to read. He covers the complete gamut of issues that may arise during the project, from planning and hardware considerations to implementation and project management. There's not an explicit checklist in the book, but it's clear that if you follow it through, you get a template for how to go about building multisite, multinational ecommerce web systems. The points to consider are all there and as a developer or project manager, you can look at each one and say "Do I have to worry about this?" and know at the end that you've covered all the main issues that should come up as part of the design and development process.

If you're going to be developing complex ecommerce web sites, then this book needs to be on your bookshelf. If you haven't done it before, then it will help guide you and make sure you've covered all the bases. If you're a veteran, then it will act as a backup to make sure that you haven't missed anything.