Course Description

In a full-day training aimed at Drupal developers we will show how to improve the Drupal development workflow, especially regarding traceability of changes, smooth upgrade of production sites and distributed team workflow, by using code-driven development techniques and Features.

We will assume familiarity with Drupal development and with a workflow based on code versioning and database dumps. Then we will briefly recap the benefits of the Features module before moving to the more advanced topics of achieving a solid, clean, efficient and sustainable workflow with Drush Make and installation profiles.

We will see:

• how to put the whole site configuration in code, even when a module does not offer a proper Features integration;
• the usage of a controller feature to manage site updates;
• tips to deploy features faster by using Drush and an optimal shell configuration;
• how to write reusable features;
• how Features, Drush Make and installation profiles can work together to automate a large part of the Drupal development process.

Learning Objectives

After the training, students will be able to automate a large part of their Drupal development workflow, to reuse work across projects and to cooperate in a fast, efficient way.

Pre-Requisites

Some PHP and Drupal development knowledge is required, as well as a basic understanding of how the Drupal hooks system works.
Familiarity with version control systems (GIT, SVN) can be helpful too.

Audience

The target audience is Drupal 7 or Drupal 6 developers (the course will address both cases) who want to improve their development workflow.