Why even with small parts of functionality contributing back to the community can have a butterfly effect. Many of the most used modules in Drupal are very large pieces of functionality like views and panels but smaller modules with targeted functionality are very valuable and a much easier way to get started with contributing to Drupal. This will discuss how to write modules more generically so that they can be reused as well as how to structure your modules for extension by others.

We’ll discuss when ctool plugins can make a one off module a jumping off point for more and when offering a hook can help divide a module into a general part for community reuse and a custom part for your project. We’ll also discuss when patching an existing module might be better or worse then create a new one.