Drupal as a framework (the role of entities)

Introduction

This is my second post in a series of related posts about Drupal entities the first is here.

If Drupal was predominately a framework as opposed to a customisable CMS then you would expect that a skilled PHP programmer with a good understanding of appropriate design patterns from other frameworks (MVC etc.) could reasonably quickly start from scratch with Drupal to build a moderately complex and well designed website.

Unfortunately this is not the case at the moment, the learning curve for Drupal is still too steep for most people to pull this off. One aspect of the "Drupal way" is to not re-invent the the wheel and to use from the massive selection of community contributed modules to implement your required functionality, and this works well for relatively simple sites.

Of course you could point out that Drupal is essentially a CMS, but it is increasingly being used for functionality that goes far beyond a traditional CMS and in those cases it is fair to ask how does it stack up as a framework. Sometimes software like Drupal will also be described as a content management framework (CMF), it may put things in perspective to see a list of software that could be considered in a similar space.

Where Entities step in to raise the bar for Drupal is in the role of modelling data.

Sometimes you have to write code, maybe your requirements are not mainstream enough to have a custom module or you have to integrate with a bespoke API or your clients are using Newsweaver rather than MailChimp or you have to integrate a bunch of contrib. modules in a way that was never envisaged. Of course all those wonderful custom modules required development and Drupal core requires a continual injection of developers that can work on the next generation of Drupal required for the ever involving web.

Not surprisingly the higher paid developer roles expect you to write quite a lot of code...

Background to Drupal entities

Introduction

The first of a series of related posts about Drupal custom entities, all will be linked into here as they are published. If not useful in themselves I hope to at least provide lots of links to useful entity resources online.

Entities were introduced into Drupal 7, they fundamentally change the way you can deal with things in Drupal and pave the way for some vast improvements in the use of Drupal as a development framework (rather than a CMS with customizable bits and modules that can be bolted on).

Entities are not proving easy for people to get into, although embraced by a number of contributed modules, many working Drupal developers don't fully understand or use them and although there are plenty of resources and explanations about them it is not easy to get started using them.

I believe that a key factor in the small number of developers embracing entities is that they are not directly exposed to site builders in Drupal 7, there is no sliding scale of entity use in core, you have to know about how they work and get your hands dirty.

Mastery of Entities may have been 'Take it or leave it' for a lot of developers building Drupal sites in Drupal 7 but I think for Drupal 8 they will be vital knowledge for anybody building medium to large Drupal sites.

WordPress from the ground up

Introduction

I have been putting some time aside to learning WordPress recently, in the the past I have had to do little bits and pieces on WordPress sites or a fiddle with something that doesn't quite work on a site built by someone else on top of a specialized theme that has been purchased. I wanted to learn how WordPress works from the bottom up.
I also want to get a feel for how much customization is possible and the feasibility of using WordPress as a development framework. I have a personal project in mind that theoretically I could build in Drupal, however Drupal is a bit weighty for what I want and a WordPress based project should be much easier for people to set up and install.

Drupal as framework pt2 where is my front controller?

Introduction

Continuing thoughts on Drupal7 (and to be fair probably just an exercise in tidying up my brain and not much use to others) as a web development framework, I highlighted one of the major difficulties in part 1 in that you need to know a lot about Drupal before you can use it as a framework.
This post is a quick pointer if you come from a pure framework background and are trying to understand how Drupal 7 works.

Drupal framework learning curve pt1

Introduction

Drupal is a development framework for people who know PHP and know Drupal, one step more than a pure development framework

Another start to a multi-part posting, this time working in on something that took a little longer to occur to me than perhaps it should. Drupal has a big learning curve for anybody who needs to do custom development. Drupal is often described as a cms that is moving (or already moved) to being a development framework. To use Drupal as framework however requires a good knowledge of Drupal (duh obviously, but bear with me).

Typical frameworks

Development frameworks are typically built on top of a programming language. So for example you may be a PHP developer who picks up a new framework built on PHP or a Ruby programmer who picks up a framework built on Ruby.

Development frameworks are typically built using well known design patterns. The MVC pattern being a prime example (often mistaken by recruitment consultants as an actual framework in it's own right). To this extent experience with one or more frameworks can boost the uptake of a new framework. For a developer or team that has experience with relevant technologies, the programming language and some of the patterns used, new frameworks can be picked up quite quickly.

Drupal as a framework

To use Drupal as a framework you need to know Drupal, you need to know PHP, you need to know about a lot of contributed modules that extend Drupal's core technology, you need to know about the changes from earlier versions (to help make sense of some of the documention that is there) and you need to have spent time learning where to find help and further information. Drupal has nothing to compare with the documentation of many other frameworks.

Granted that pure frameworks don't do anything out of the box themselves and that Drupal is primarily targeted at people that will not program with it, however it seems the overhead for even an experienced programmer to pick up and start running with Drupal is still too high and the patterns you need to help you navigate it too obscured.

What do you think about the Drupal learning curve?