Building Awesome Web Applications with Drupal + Backbone.js

A new breed of JavaScript libraries has opened up new worlds of possibility for web developers, and this session will show you how you can use Drupal with Backbone.js to build powerful, application-like functionality in your sites using the Drupal Backbone module.

We’ll start by reviewing the general concept of client-side JavaScript frameworks: the problems they are made to solve and the possibilities they open up. We’ll review some examples of how these client-side libraries have been used throughout the web to make everything from better administration panels to mind-blowing “this can’t be happening inside a browser” applications. We’ll also take a few peaks under the hood of such apps and show how much simpler web frameworks make development.

Client-side web application frameworks make building web application functionality easier, but they also require we build our sites differently. After reviewing some of the basics and general possibilities, we’ll dive into the specifics:

  • We’ll discuss how to use Backbone.js to build complex behavior on top of it’s simple, well-architected framework.
  • We’ll review the various options for creating a back-end web API using Services and/or RESTful Web Services and/or Views Datasource and/or…
  • We’ll present how the Backbone module for Drupal helps you effortlessly pull these different components together: so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel or solve already fixed challenges, and can focus on the good stuff.

We’ll close with a discussion of the future. The Backbone module is ready to make making advanced web applications easier, but it’s a young module and there’s a lot on the roadmap for Drupal 7, and a lot of opportunity for community involvement and support. Finally, Drupal 8’s WSCCI initiative presents extremely exciting possibilities for core support for web service APIs, and with it the possibility of even more powerful tools for Drupal developers who want to take their sites to the next level.

Speaker(s): 
Track: 
Coding and Development
Experience level: 
Advanced

Comments

This is really great module, which helps to develop Bacbone.JS apps so easy!

Backbone.JS shifts rendering part to the client from server, which allows Drupal to be powerful and performance RESTfull service. Add some caching and CDN to it and your sites will fly like a rocket!

I like this session and going to it!