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Mark Shust on Building a Modern PHP Framework

By Brent W. Peterson

In this latest episode of the Talk Commerce podcast, I sat down with Mark Shust to discuss a significant shift in the world of PHP development. Mark, the founder of M.Academy and a long-time fixture in the Magento community, recently unveiled his latest project, which he calls Marko. Throughout our conversation, we explored why he felt compelled to build an experimental framework from scratch called Marko Build, his thoughts on the current state of e-commerce, and how he uses modern development workflows to bypass the legacy baggage that frequently slows down teams.

Key Takeaways

  • Removal of XML Overhead: The framework prioritizes PHP-based configurations, effectively eliminating the disconnected XML layers that often complicate standard enterprise e-commerce environments.
  • AI-Integrated Architecture: By building the framework alongside large language models, Mark ensured the structure is optimized for AI-assisted coding, allowing developers to generate and maintain complex logic with greater speed.
  • True Module Interoperability: Utilizing dependency injection and interface-based design, the framework supports hot-swappable components, enabling developers to switch database drivers without rewriting core business logic.
  • Leveraging PHP 8.5: The project takes full advantage of modern language features, specifically attributes, to maintain a clean, modular, and highly readable codebase.
  • Open Source Philosophy: Mark remains a firm proponent of MIT-licensed, open-source tools, providing an alternative to the growing trend of closed-source, software-as-a-service platforms.

About Mark Shust

Mark is a developer and educator who has been deeply involved in the Magento ecosystem since the early days of version 1.4. He is the founder of M.Academy, where he produces self-paced training materials, developer tools, and maintains an AI tutor to assist programmers in navigating complex frameworks. After training thousands of developers, Mark has shifted his professional focus toward streamlining development workflows. He believes that the future of web development depends on balancing power with simplicity, an approach that currently guides his work on his new framework.

Episode Summary

During our discussion, Mark explained that his inspiration for building Marko stemmed from over fifteen years of navigating the technical frustrations inherent in monolithic e-commerce platforms. He clarified that this is not intended to be a direct, drop-in replacement for Magento, but rather an experimental framework that adopts the best architectural concepts—like modularity and dependency injection—while discarding the unnecessary complexity. “I’ve always wondered what that alternate future would look like if they actually did make it simpler,” Mark told me. By utilizing modern PHP 8.5 standards, he managed to architect the core of the project in just 30 days.

We also discussed his demonstration app, Marko Talk, which serves as a real-time messaging platform built on the framework. The application functions without external dependencies like Node.js or Redis, relying instead on Postgres and native PHP event handling. Mark argues that this consolidation simplifies infrastructure management for solo developers and small teams alike. He remains convinced that PHP is an ideal language for rapid deployment, particularly now that development workflows include AI tools capable of handling repetitive boilerplate tasks.

Final Thoughts: My conversation with Mark highlights a growing tension between those who prefer the convenience of proprietary SaaS platforms and the architects who insist on maintaining full control over their infrastructure. By stripping away legacy layers and embracing modern tooling, Mark is challenging the industry to reconsider how it builds for the web. As we look at the trajectory of e-commerce, one must ask: is the future of development found in simplification, or will the weight of our current Marko-architecture ultimately demand a clean slate?

Connect with Mark Shust on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markshust/
Learn more at: https://marko.build/

This has been produced in cooperation with Content Cucumber
https://www.contentcucumber.com/

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E-commerce Development M.Academy Mark Shust Marko open source PHP Framework Talk Commerce Web Development

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Brent W. Peterson

Brent W. Peterson

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