The waiting is over. We'll have automatic updates in Drupal sooner than we even dared to hope.
Source: Drupal.org
* Since that announcement was made, both an alpha and beta1 version of the Automatic Updates module have been released.
The auto-updater, which has been, in turn, or simultaneously:
an ever requested feature in the Drupal community
a highly anticipated functionality for the Drupal end users
an evergreen matter of debate ("I really need this feature in my life" vs "We prefer to keep the Drupal website up-to-date ourselves".)
a... "mission impossible" type of challenge
a Drupal initiative that seemed doomed to never grow into an actual feature
... is now a work-in-progress Drupal module. Can you believe this?
Now, we can just hear those questions running through your head:
"How/when did this never-ending talk about auto updates for Drupal turned into a module?"
"What are its features/components?"
"Who is it aimed at?"
"How would it benefit me more precisely?"
Let's get you some clear answers:
1. Automatic Updates in Drupal: A Highly Requested and... Ever Postponed Feature
An auto update system has been one of the top requests in the Drupal community since... forever.
"Does Drupal have an auto update?" "Why Doesn't Drupal offer an Auto Update feature like WordPress?"
Simultaneously, many other members of the community adopted:
the "I didn't need it anyway" approach
the "I don't need Drupal to automatically update itself. What if something breaks?" approach
or the "Auto updates would not fit our development workflow" approach
Overall: the need was there, it was growing and the various "no need" reactions to the possibility of implementing such a feature were just:
legitimate paranoia lest those automatic updates should be superficially tested before release
the frustration that the answer to this request was invariably the same: "Not possible in a Drupal context."
Speaking of this standard answer that we've been getting, constantly, over the last years, it looks like automatic updates in Drupal have gone from:
myth: Drupal websites are far too complex to come up with an all-size-fits-all set of updating standards for them all
mission impossible: it's not possible to architect such a solution for Drupal
work-in-progress module aimed at simplifying the whole task of keeping one's Drupal site safely up to date
In short: the automatic updates functionality has gone from "mission impossible" to... "anything is possible with Drupal".
2. Auto Updates: From a Drupal Core Strategic Initiative to a Drupal Module
The community demanded and... demanded (Dries himself drew attention to this need), till their request of an automatic updater turned into one of the 8 Drupal core strategic initiatives.
One funded by the European Commission itself...
Source: Drupal.org
And this switch from request to... well-structured roadmap was only too predictable:
proprietary and commercial software companies were already implementing an auto update system
open source projects (see WordPress) were already offering this critical feature: the site owner just clicks a button and the system handles the whole updating process
What was the main goal that drove the Auto Update initiative forward?
To architect a system that would apply Drupal updates automatically.
This way, maintenance costs, particularly for small and medium-sized Drupal projects, would lower and the Drupal adoption rate would rise.
Not to mention that we would be having far more 100% secure Drupal websites out there.
3. The Automatic Updates Module: Its 3 Main Components
For this long-awaited solution for automatic updates in Drupal relies on a 3-component structure:
the PSAS (public safety alerts)
the readiness checks
the actual in-place updates
Now, let's get into the nuts and bolts of each component:
3.1. Public Safety Messaging
What this feature does is pull alerts on critical and highly critical updates from Drupal.org right into your admin UI.
This way, you can easily check your site's readiness for the update about to be released by the Drupal security team.
3.2. Readiness Checks (or Preflight Checks)
It's a plugin-based feature that triggers warnings and errors on detected issues blocking your website from getting updated automatically.
Let me give you some examples:
"Your website's running on a read-only hard drive!"
" Cron isn’t running frequently enough!"
"The "X" files included in the update process have been modified!"
"You need to run database updates!"
3.3. In-Place Updates
Once your website's level of... readiness has been checked and approved of, it's time to run the Drupal update itself.
Here's how it works:
the update package of files gets downloaded from Drupal.org
the Automatic Updates module (now in its beta 1 version) checks it and creates backups of the files on your website included in the update process
the module performs the update
if something goes bad, it restores your backup files
Note: you're free to set up your own custom workflow for the auto-update process; you can stag the updates for review and approval first, get them through your own CI/CD system or... you can set them to go live, automatically.
4. And How Does It Work? The Automatic Updates Module "In Action"
Let's imagine this scenario:
You already have this automatic functionality implemented into your website. How would it work in case of an "upcoming critical security update" situation?
it pops up the message alert in your admin interface
next, you run several checks on your website to... check whether there are any issues that you'll need to address before updating it
then you trigger the in-place update
That's it.
5. Who's It For? Is It Aimed at...You, Too?
It is if:
you're a small or medium-sized business owner
you don't have a custom development workflow and pipeline set in place (with Git, Drush, and other tools included)
people in your team with no development background are responsible for maintaining your Drupal site up to date
you don't have a solid routine of checking and running Drupal updates as soon as they get released
Source: Drupal.org
In other words: automatic updates in Drupal aren't aimed at enterprise-level websites.
The module targets small Drupal projects, where:
running security updates on a regular basis
staying vigilant, lest you should miss them once released, is THE main cause of stress for site owners
The END!
This is the new auto updates feature in Drupal, along with the answers to some of your valid questions regarding this module.
How do you find the project's progress so far?
What other features would you like this module to include? And what are your concerns about integrating such functionality into your own build workflow?
Image by krzysztof-m from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Nov 29'2019
So, getting your apps up and running with Kubernetes has been a quite unexpected pleasant surprise. But now comes the... predictably challenging part: updating and deploying them. How do you set up a solid automated deployment pipeline? What continuous deployment tools for Kubernetes meet all your specific feature-needs?
Feature needs like:
canary deployment
release management
secrets and variable storage in the tool itself (i.e. not in Kubernetes)
easy rollbacks
continuous-integration
rolling and orchestrating application deployment
UI
blue-green deployment
monitoring infrastructure and applications
And the offer of tools geared at making deployment more efficient sure is... overwhelming enough.
But fear not, for we've weighted some of the most popular Kubernetes cluster deployment tools' pros and cons, we've compared them to one another and shortlisted your bulky list of options to... 5.
The 5 best dedicated tools to orchestrate your releases with Kubernetes:
0. Manual Deployments vs Continuous Deployment Tools for Kubernetes
Why not just build a fully customed deployment script like... so many organizations out there still do?
It would fit your specific in-house processes and particular feature needs like a glove, wouldn't it?
"In a soon to be released survey by Codefresh, 32 percent of developers reported they don’t have CI/CD or the right kind of automation tools to help them deploy more often, making it challenging to take advantage of cloud-native technologies." (source: Devops.com)
Well, let me give you 8 key reasons why maintaining such a script would turn into a dread in the long term.
And why going with an “off-the-shelf”, “enterprise-level” solution would benefit you n times more:
maintaining a deployment script is a slow and time-consuming process
a custom build turns into a major challenge once you need to scale it up
running manual Kubernetes deployments, that engage a large development team, is always more prone to errors
managing rollbacks, keeping track of old and new deployments — particularly when dealing with a large team and a complex app — is n times more challenging (and riskier) when using manual deployments compared to running the right CD tools
automated deployment tools for Kubernetes enable you to run specific deployment strategies like blue-green or canary
YAML files have gained a reputation of being particularly error-prone; Kubernetes application deployment tools will streamline everything, from creating YAML files to generating and templating them
storing secrets, managing them among multiple developers, across different repos, calls for extreme cautiousness and so... can get time-consuming and prone to “accidents”
upgrading the entire ecosystem of resources that your Kubernetes app depends on gets quite challenging; by comparison, automating the entire updating workflow, using the right tooling, will help you save valuable time
In short: if scalability, maintainability and close to zero risks of failure are your two top priorities, choosing the right tooling for your continuous deployment workflow with Kubernetes becomes critical.
1. Fluxcd.io
One of the best Kubernetes deployment tools that you could "turbocharge" your workflow with. Here's why:
Source: Fluxcd.io
you can use it in production
it relies on an operator in the cluster to run deployments inside Kubernetes: in other words: you won't need a different continuous deployment tool
it detects new images, keeps an eye on image repositories and updates the running configurations based on a configurable policy and the configuration set in git
it checks that all config updates and new container images get properly pushed out to your Kubernetes cluster
it adjusts itself to any development process
In short: Flux will automate the deployment of services to Kubernetes.
Now, here's Flux "in action", in one of its typical use cases:
One of the developers in your team makes some changes... the operational cluster needs updated now... Flux detects the changes and deploys them to your cluster and keeps monitoring it.
Long story short: that developer in your team won't need to interact with an orchestrator; Flux provides him/her with a CLI to run all these operations manually.
But there are also 2 cons for using Flux as your automated deployment tool:
it lacks webhook support
it lacks multi-repo support
Tip: use this automated deployment tool at the end of the Continuous delivery pipeline.
2. Spinnaker.io
What's Spinnaker?
Source: bmc.com
A cloud deployment tool developed originally by Netflix, then open-sourced, that comes with support for Kubernetes.
How does it work with Kubernetes?
It's designed to complement Kubernetes, to make up for its limitations: it provides robust deployment pipelines that allow you to "joggle with" various deployment strategies.
Why would you choose Spinnaker over other continuous deployment tools for Kubernetes?
Because:
it provides deployment pipelines, easy rollbacks and scaling (right from the console)
it's open-source
it integrates seamlessly with email, Slack, Hipchat, thus making pipeline notifications a breeze
you get to use it for all types of Kubernetes resources (it's not "limited" to deployments)
it supports Helm charts
it handles blue/green and canary deployments and ships with support for any CI tool and cloud provider
it'll monitor your Kubernetes app's (and cluster's) health
In short: you'll want to use Spinnaker if it's a robust, fully automated CD pipeline for Kubernetes that you want to set up; one "packed" with all the best practices, that'll help you streamline the deployment of apps.
2 Typical Use Cases for Spinnaker:
you use packer for building an AMI in one of the stages and you deploy it to production; Spinnaker allows you to closely monitor the state of your deployed application
to perform tests, detect a container image push and deploy that image to Kubernetes
3. Codefresh.io
Source: Codefresh.io
Not just one of the continuous delivery tools to consider, but THE first Kubernetes-native CI/CD technology.
Codefresh is a GUI-based environment that streamlines your Kubernetes app building and deployment process.
Here are just some of the most powerful reasons why you'd add it to your box of continuous deployment tools for Kubernetes:
it supports Helm charts
it allows you to use your favorite tools: favorite CI, image repository, repo...
it ships with a whole set of plugins that enable you to hook it to your favorite CI/CD tools (e.g. Jenkins)
And a few cons of using Codefresh:
it won't store your secrets/variables
its plugins are set up from their own GUI: if trouble strikes, addressing the problem might make your pipeline unnecessarily complex
it doesn't handle cluster credentials living outside your cluster, leaving it exposed to imminent risks
4. Argo CD
Source: Argoproj.github.io
Another one of the best Kubernetes deployment tools to consider when you're planning your continuous delivery workflow.
How does Argo CD work?
Argo uses git repositories as a reference for the target state of your app and the target deployment environments. It will synchronize your desired app state with each of the target environments that you'll define.
It's a declarative continuous system that it will provide you with, one supporting a whole variety of config management tools: Helm, ksonnet/jsonnet...
Argo CD's top features, that make it worthy of your shortlist, are:
it provides continuous monitoring of your deployed apps
rollback/roll-anywhere-in-the-git-repository features
it ships with webhook support (BitBucket, GitLab, GitHub)
it provides sync, presync and postsync hooks for complex app rollouts
it provides SSO integration (GitLab, OIDC, Microsoft, LinkedIn, SAML 2.0, LDAP)
you can use it alone or as a component of an existing setup of pipeline tools
5. GitLab
An automated delivery tool designed to meet even the highest feature needs:
Auto DevOps provides you with pre-built CI/CD configuration, so you can automatically identify, build, test, deploy and further monitor your Kubernetes apps
it works with any Kubernetes cluster (you won't depend on GitLab's infrastructure)
it allows you to use Containers as a Service or a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster on any public cloud
it provides you with CI support out of the box
it allows you to choose between its auto-deploy component for Kubernetes and Helm charts
Overall: GitLab will simplify and streamline your entire Kubernerted app development cycle.
Use it if you need an end-to-end automated deployment pipeline that doesn't depend on too many configurations. It makes that off-the-shelf solution that fits your scenario perfectly.
The END!
These are the 5 continuous deployment tools for Kubernetes to start evaluating first as you're getting your toolbox ready.
Do you have a continuous deployment pipeline in place? What other great tools are you using to orchestrate your app releases with Kubernetes?
Image by Astryd_MAD from Pixabay
Silviu Serdaru / Nov 26'2019
How should you prepare for Drupal 9? You deep clean up your codebase of all deprecations and errors and wait patiently for the big upgrade to... happen.
“But how do I know whether my Drupal website's using any code deprecations?” you'll legitimately ask yourself.
How do you identify and make an inventory of all the code errors on your site, so you can remove them and start... waiting, patiently, for that big upgrade to Drupal 9?
Well, you “stuff” your toolbox with all the essential tools that'll help you track down deprecations (still) lurking in your codebase.
Here are the 5 most effective ones:
1. Drupal Check
You can't claim that you're getting ready for Drupal 9... the proper way if you're not already using Drupal Check to scan your codebase for deprecations.
“But what is Drupal check?”
It's a command-line tool — a custom runner for PHPStan — that enables you to run PHPStan against your Drupal website to look for any deprecations and code errors.
In short: instead of running PHPStan, you run Drupal Check, which comes as a package storing PHPStan, PHPStan Drupal, PHPStan's Deprecation Rules, plus configurations for them all, as well.
Source: glamanate.com
Just incorporate it into your build processes and continuous integration systems and run audits on:
your custom and contributed modules, checking their compatibility with Drupal 9
your D7 to D8 migration code
Use it on your existing Drupal 8 website. Or use it on the one that you're developing, when you're nearly done, to check whether any deprecations have made their way to your codebase...
Word of caution: expect Drupal Check to provide you with an accurate report of the deprecated code used on your site, but don't expect it to fix them for you, as well.
2. Upgrade Status Module
Here's another “tool” that you shouldn't miss from your toolbox. That if you do want your website's upgrade to Drupal 9 to be... buttery smooth.
Source: Drupal.org
What the Upgrade Status module does is:
inspect your code — your custom and contributed projects — for deprecations
make an inventory of all the identified issues
Moreover, its Drupal 8 version harnesses the power of PHPStan and comes as a complete solution that you can use for running full-site checks.
Let it work its “magic” on your Drupal site and find out where it stands in terms of compatibility with Drupal 9.
3. PHPStan & PHPStan-Drupal
PHPStan's the very foundation of the toolkit to rely on when you prepare for Drupal 9.
Source: Matt Glaman's Twitter page
Not only that you save valuable time using it, time that you'd otherwise invest in pinpointing every error spotted during your code reviews:
classes called incorrectly
nonexistent classes
PHP projects that you forgot to run once you compiled them
… but you get to write your own custom rules.
You get to indicate specific “red alarm” situations that you'd want PHPStan to... investigate for you.
Now, it may be the key tool to keep at hand when you evaluate your site's compatibility with Drupal 9, but nevertheless... it does have its own limitations:
It won't load any files on its own if you run it against a Drupal module out of the box. It depends on Composer to load all that information...
Luckily, Matt Glaman's developed an extension to address precisely this... limitation of PHPStan: phpstan-drupal.
An extension that'll help you make the most of PHPStan when using it to scan Drupal code: from your various dependencies to... Drupal core.
4. Use Project Deprecation Status to Prepare for Drupal 9
And what this tool does is answer one key question:
“What's the current status of the Drupal modules in terms of compatibility with Drupal 9?”
Which Drupal projects are already compatible and which of them need more fixing before the big upgrade?
Project deprecation status is the right tool to... gain an accurate picture of where each Drupal project stands in relation to upcoming Drupal 9.
5. Rector
So far I've pointed out the 4 key tools for deep-scanning your Drupal website to detect any uses of deprecated code as you prepare for Drupal 9.
But what if you want to get rid of that pile of deprecations that you will have collected by the end of the scanning process?
How do you fix/remove them?
And, more importantly: how do you automate this code cleaning process?
In this respect, Rector for Drupal 8 — a proof of concept for now — comes with great potential:
Check it out and... be prepared to add it to your toolbox for any automated deprecation fixes that you'll want to perform on your site.
The END!
These are the 5 essential tools to have in your toolbelt for running deprecation checks on your Drupal website, getting all ready for Drupal 9.
Would you have added some other must-have tools to the list, as well? Let us know in the comments here below:
Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay
Silviu Serdaru / Nov 22'2019
How do you know which API management solution best suits your needs? What fundamental differences would a Google Apigee vs MuleSoft comparison reveal?
What different features and different use cases would it expose, pointing out to you the right platform for your application?
Well, we've compared the 2 API managers for you, so get ready to find your answer to:
What is Apigee? What are its main features?
What is an API management platform?
What is MuleSoft?
What's the difference between Mule ESB and Apigee?
What is Apigee used for? And what about Mule ESB?
1. What Is Apigee?
It's a cross-cloud API management platform offered by Google.
Source: Google Cloud
But that's just a "teaser" answer to your question, so if you crave for more details:
Apigee is an API gateway tool that provides a secure environment for multiple cloud services and applications to exchange data in.
In short: Google Apigee is that platform that helps you manage all your APIs in one place. A platform that brings together all your digital experiences.
2. What Is an API Management Platform, More Precisely?
Maybe you feel a bit confused. Left in the dark about what API management platforms are.
Therefore, allow me to delve into (even) more details, so there's no confusion left when I start to actually compare these 2 API managers: Google Apigee vs MuleSoft.
So, an API management platform is:
The process where you manage all your APIs in a secure and scalable environment.
A process that enables you to use an API for overseeing the interface's lifecycle. This way, you make sure that all the apps and developers using that API have their needs met.
Now, there are 3 key functions that an API management platform should support:
security
monitoring
version control
... and some basic features that would allow you to accelerate innovation in your organization and adapt easily to customer expectations of flexible and scalable technology:
API key and authorization management
analytics
live updated documentation
developer community management
developer portal to simplify the acquisition and distribution of certain APIs needed for building apps
3. Google Apigee: Key Features
Now, that looks tempting enough, doesn't it? To be able to manage all your APIs from one central place...
But what features, designed to streamline the whole API management process, does Apigee provide you with?
How precisely does it help you be effective when managing your APIs?
it provides constant version updates
it provides troubleshooting options
it taps into machine learning and analytics to generate actionable insights
it scales to your needs
it supports multi-cloud and hybrid cloud
it automates the process of generating API documentation and software development kits
it speeds up the implementation of API proxies with integrated metrics and dashboards
it provides a modern UI for your legacy data stores
it provides monitoring tools for security, API troubleshooting, and optimization
4. What Is MuleSoft?
Since we're about to make a MuleSoft API management vs Apigee comparison, your question is more than legitimate:
Source: MuleSoft.com
MuleSoft is a software company that provides an integration platform — Mule ESB — for centralizing all the apps, data, and devices across the on-premise and cloud environments in an organization.
5. Google Apigee vs MuleSoft: What's the Difference?
And we're back to the initial question:
What's the difference between MuleSoft and Apigee, after all?
For they're both API management platforms, they both seem to be serving the same API centralization and management needs and they're equally popular.
Here's a first differentiator:
In Google Apigee APIs are consumption-centric, whereas in Mule ESB they're exposure-focused (or reuse-focused).
Now, let's dig out some more ways in which they differ:
5.1. Mule ESB
higher ongoing operational costs compared to Apigee
ships with a wide array of connectors, for all major platforms —Twitter, Facebook, SAP, Salesforce — and business process management software; this makes it easier to be integrated to other systems and services
it provides some of the most robust features in API management: oAuth, throttling, access levels...
it makes implementing a CI/CD environment conveniently easy
it supports a whole variety of interaction patterns since it ships with lots of adapters and robust message-oriented middleware
5.2. Apigee
it grants you close control of user access; you can even grant users granular control based on their particular needs and adjust the services' requests based on users' specific requirements
it allows branding
it provides support for JMS and SMTP functionality
it integrates seamlessly with other platforms
6. When Do You Use One API Manager over the Other? Specific Use Cases
In other words: which one to use?
Say you need to expose some services in your app: should you go with Google Apigee or Mule ESB?
To make an informed decision, here are some of the typical uses cases of each API manager:
6.1. Mule ESB
more appropriate for REST API development
best suited for system-to-system integration
covers a bigger scope, compared to Google Apigee
6.2. Apigee
best suited for connected apps scenarios
the best option if you're planning to update your legacy apps and to enable data exchange across your ecosystem of apps and services
when you just need full API lifecycle management: a platform that exposes your services in a secure way and ships with powerful API governance and management features like caching, analytics, etc.
The END!
Have I answered your "Google Apigee vs MuleSoft" question(s)?
If so:
Which API management solution do you think that best suits your needs?
Image by Juraj Lenhard from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Nov 15'2019
"What's new in Drupal 9?" or "What are the new features in Drupal 9?"
These 2 questions are on everyone's lips these days, both Drupal teams and organizations using Drupal.
How about a... shiny new main theme?
For, let's face it: we've been longing for a new default theme in Drupal for some time now...
The current one, Bartik, hasn't got an update since... 2011 and it has started to show: Drupal 8's outgrown its core theme.
The new one, Olivero, which is still just design with a proof of concept, is expected to address all of Bartik's limitations:
to be more simple
to be more modern
to be more flexible
to support Drupal's increasingly powerful functionality
But let's dig in for some more info about this initiative:
why do you need a new default theme in Drupal?
the key design principles established for this theme
the main components of the new design system
1. How Does Your Ideal Default Theme for Drupal Look Like?
Does it resemble Bartik?
I'm pretty sure it doesn't, judging by the fact that:
it hasn't seen a major change since January 2011
it still uses gradients, drop shadows and other out-of-date graphical elements
it no longer accommodates all the modern website functionality implemented in Drupal (e.g. Layout Builder) over the last years
Overall: Bartik has started to look a bit... out-of-fashion, while Drupal's back-end has been growing more and more robust.
Therefore, I bet that the words that you'd use to describe your "ideal" default theme in Drupal revolve around these key adjectives:
clutter-free/minimalistic
flexible: to provide plenty of options to choose from
light
modern and fresh
accessible
intuitive
elegant
clean
2. Olivero and The 3 Main Goals Behind this Drupal Core Initiative
No goal no... glory.
That's why the team behind this Drupal core initiative, Lullabot, set 3 major objectives for the Olivero theme:
it should support all the latest functionality implemented in Drupal: embedded media, second-level navigation, layout builder, etc.
it should be WCAG AA compliant from the ground up (accessibility should not be an afterthought)
it should look and feel more modern: all those design elements that made Bartik feel too heavy to be reduced to a minimum, while particular design system parts — color palette, typography, and animation — to be reconsidered
3. What's New in Drupal 9: Design Principles Set for Its Theme
Source: Dries Buytaert's blog
Curious which of the features on your wishlist for an ideal default theme have made it to the list of design principles for Olivero?
Well, here they are:
simple: clutter-free; by "clutter" they mean all colors, effects and visual elements that are irrelevant and make the theme look and feel too heavy
modern: support for modern browsers' features and interaction modes
flexible: presents Drupal (front-end) developers with multiple options to choose from
focused: includes all those design elements, like negative space and high contrast, that grab user attention
accessible: it's designed with WCAG AA conformity in mind; from functionality to layout, to colors, all elements should be thought out to be accessible for everyone
4. The Olivero Design System: Key Components
"What's new in Drupal 9?" Look forward to a new, promising design system.
I'll highlight just 5 of its components, so you can get an idea of what the team behind this initiative mean by "modern" and "flexible" in relation to the Drupal 9 default theme:
Source: Drupal.org
4.1. Color Palette
They chose:
bright blue as the base color
neutral grays to counterbalance the design elements and layout
darker colors to enhance accessibility
lighter colors in the layout to highlight the design elements
4.2. Typography
They used the size 18px for the base font in the body copy, to be leveled for metadata, headers, quotations, etc. and adapted to smaller viewports, as well.
Consistency, throughout line-height and spacing, has been a key goal when setting the scale for typography.
4.3. Header & Navigation
The flexibility principle is best reflected in the header of the future default theme for Drupal 9:
it's designed to incorporate, seamlessly, all logo types and text titles
it comes in multiple versions to choose from, one for every site identity type
it turns into a hamburger menu once the user scrolls down
4.4. Sidebar
The news factor is that in Drupal 9 you'll have one sidebar region instead of two competing for space on the screen.
A single spacebar, next to the primary content, where your content team can display related posts and all kinds of utility blocks.
4.5. Site Branding Variations
The Olivero theme will ship with background-color and width settings that you can configure in order to fit any text length and logo type.
5. Final Word
"What's new in Drupal 9?"
I think this question is not quite accurate, in relation to this upcoming front-end theme.
"What's bound to be new in Drupal 9?" is more appropriate.
For the Olivero theme is not yet... a theme in itself, but work-in-progress.
A proof of concept, a core initiative that's still calling out for contributors. One that's expected to become the new default theme in Drupal, that should:
accommodate all the new powerful features implemented in Drupal these last years
be accessible from the ground up
be (more) intuitive
Why would you care for this initiative if you were a Drupal developer?
Because it would improve your entire experience of working with Drupal.
Why would you care about this work-in-progress theme if you were considering Drupal for your next web project?
Because all visually-appealing websites have one thing in common: a modern, accessible and flexible theme.
Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay
Silviu Serdaru / Nov 13'2019
You're building a React website/application. You have your bulky list of functionalities all set, you know how you want it to look, but can't decide on the React framework to build it on: What's the main difference between Gatsby and Next.js, after all?
And what's the difference between server-side rendering and static site rendering?
Since both frameworks seem to be serving your main goals:
not to get tangled up in config or routing
to generate a fast, fully accessible and SEO-friendly website
to provide you with boilerplate application
So, what's the fundamental differentiator between Gatsby and Next?
The one(s) that'll help you identify the framework that best covers your specific use case.
Or, are there several of them (differentiators)? Just keep on reading:
1. But First: What Do Gatsby and Next.js Have in Common?
How are they similar?
they're both React frameworks
they're both great options for SEO purposes
they're both great options if you need a high performance React app/website
they both provide entirely formed HTML pages
they both provide boilerplate application
they both simplify and speed up the React app/website development cycle
they both generate SPA out-of-the-box
they both provide great developer experience
In short: both Next.js and Gatsby score well in categories like speed and SEO; they're both awesome solutions to streamline app/website development in React.
But the way they go about it... that's where these frameworks are fundamentally different.
2. How Does GatsbyJS Work?
It builds HTML code on build time.
That would be the short(est) answer to your question. But if we were to elaborate upon it:
GatsbyJS is a static site generator that... generates (static) HTML code during the “build” process. How? It fetches data from external sources — APIs, Contentful, WordPress, markdown files — and uses GraphQL to render it.
Example: say you have a blog. In this case, you could use Gatsby to fetch your blog posts from... Contentful. Or any other repository where you might be storing your content (e.g. WordPress or Drupal).
3. What's Next.js?
A tool for rendering pages on the server-side.
And a more detailed answer would be:
It's a React framework that supports server-side rendering. Meaning that it generates the needed HTML code dynamically, from the server, each time a request is being sent through.
In short: your browser's provided with pre-rendered HTML code instead of empty “div”.
Now, how does its distinctive way of going about building a React app/website suit you?
It enables you to develop multi-page applications using static rendering and serving dynamic data from a back-end.
4. What Are They Used For? Specific Use Cases for Gatbsy and for Next.js
What's the difference between Gatsby and Next.js in terms of use case?
In other words: when should you choose one over the other?
4.1. Specific Use Cases for GatsbyJS
1. Blogs and small-scaled websites
And I'm talking here about a particular scenario:
When you have no comments section on your blog or, at least, not a very “busy” one. So, a use case where you don't need to render content every 5-10 minutes.
Since blogs are static and their content doesn't change that frequently, Gatbsy's ecosystem makes the perfect fit for them.
And you have 2 options for your blog post creation and publishing process:
you write a blog post and the npm build will generate a corresponding HTML page
you write a blog post in Contentful (or a CMS of your choice), publish it and recompile your blog in Netfly
2. Landing pages
Again, since they use static content, landing pages make an ideal use case for GatsbyJS.
Where do you add that Gatsby “spoils” you with such a wide collection of plugins to choose from and to boost your landing page with: PWA, inline critical CSS, AMP...
4.2. Specific Use Cases for Next.js
1. Content-packed websites
Dealing with lots of content? Or are you expecting your site's content load to grow, over time?
Then Next.js should be your first choice.
The reason is simple:
Just imagine your Gatsby framework overstrained to rebuild all that content over and over again. Not precisely the most time-effective solution to go with, don't you think?
2. When you need more freedom for accessing your data
Do you want to empower your content team to publish content on their own? Then you might want to consider Next.js.
3. To-Do Apps
They make the perfect use case for server-side rendering:
Next.js retrieves the content for your list, from the server, and displays the to-do's upfront.
5. The Fundamental Difference Between Gatsby and Next.js Is...
… that Gatsby's a statically generator, while Next.js generates HTML dynamically.
Image by Colin Behrens from Pixabay
The first creates JS/HTML/CSS at build time, while the second generates it at run time.
Or, if you wish to put it this way:
Gatsby doesn't depend on a server, while Next can't function without one.
6.4 Other Main Areas Where They Differ
For the “Gatsby vs Next” debate doesn't end at the “static vs dynamic” comparison.
There are other factors, as well, that set these 2 React frameworks apart. And we'll outline the 4 most obvious ones:
6.1. Data Handling
In case of Gatsby, the framework's the one “deciding” how you should handle data in your app.
It needs to know where your data, your images and other types of content will be handled.
What's in it your for? Why would you accept this... “compromise”: to be told how to handle data in your own app?
Because:
Gatsby, through its rich collection of plugins, enables you to hook up your site to various data sources. This way, you gain external control over your data...
By comparison, Next's totally unopinionated.
Is gives you the freedom to decide your own data architecture.
In short: it doesn't “tie” you to a specific technology. You're free to handle data your own way.
6.2. Deployment
You can deploy Gatsby anywhere you need to, with no special configurations, since it's no more than compiled CSS, JS, and HTML.
And things are equally straightforward with Next.js, as well. Since it's a Node application, you can host it anywhere you want to...
6.3. Routing
With Gatsby, you have a pages directory where you're free to create all the HTML pages needed for your app/website.
Moreover, they provide you an API, as well, for creating routes dynamically.
With Next.js you get a “pages” folder, as well, where you can set up your new pages and get your app running, with no routing to config.
6.4. Plugins
“What's the main difference between Gatsby and Next.js?” Plugins sure are a powerful differentiator.
Gatsby comes “loaded” with an entire ecosystem of plugins.
So, do you need to have your JS minified, you CSS compiled, your...? There must be a Gatsby plugin for it.
Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay
Next.js, on the other hand, doesn't “tempt” you with plugins, since its smaller scope doesn't justify the usage of plugins...
The END!
These are the key differences between Next.js and Gatsby, along with their common points and specific use cases.
Have you had your “Aha!” moment(s) reading through our post? Have you managed to identify the right framework for your own use case?
Photo by Charles ?ﾟﾇﾭ on Unsplash
Silviu Serdaru / Nov 12'2019
Let's say that you have a cleaning business. Once a user types “office cleaning” on your website, the search results that show up first are some blog posts on this topic instead of the page that you're actually targeting: the “Office & Workplace Cleaning” service page. So, you wonder: “How to configure custom search in Drupal 8?”
What are your options if you want to go beyond the default Drupal search?
How can you influence that search results ordering so that you:
improve the overall site search experience for your visitors?
push forward into the spotlight particular pages on your site, based on specific keywords?
We've done our homework, collected and then selected 9 different ways that you can upgrade the default search experience in Drupal so that it should fit your needs perfectly. From:
additional Drupal modules that you can enable
to effective search plugins that you can install
to brilliant configurations that you can set up
… you'll find a whole collection of options at hand for fine-tuning the search functionality on your Drupal website.
1. Enable the Drupal Search API Module
If you find the default Drupal search module a bit too... restrictive, consider Search API.
It takes but 3 simple steps before you can leverage its flexibility to the fullest:
just install it and enable it, along with the Search API database module
add an index and an API server, as well
2. Integrate Your Drupal 8 Website with Apache Solr Search
The Java-based search platform is powerful enough to supercharge your website with tons of search capabilities:
Source: Drupal.org
search for all attributes of Drupal nodes
ouline the search queries in the results
perform language stemming to return related results
search across multiple websites
index from... millions of nodes
overlook users' typos and provide proper suggestions
provide location-based search results
display the most relevant results on top of the list
In short: you're better off with a Solr back-end; it will always overstep a Drupal database search setup when it comes to returning relevant and intuitive results. Even in “keyword phrase search” scenarios.
3. How to Configure Custom Search in Drupal 8: Use ExpertRec
This search-as-a-service solution ships with a heavy load of useful features, such as:
manageable search ranking
typo tolerance
easy UI control
results as you type
custom facets
So, you might want to consider it for evaluation. Just put its robust set of features against your site search needs.
4. Use the Cludo Site Search Solution
What if you could turn the site search on your Drupal website into a powerful “insights generator”?
Source: Drupal.org
One that would provide you with valuable and, most of all, actionable insights on your users' search behavior. Just imagine turning all that powerful data into highly relevant site search experiences for your visitors.
Cludo's that fully customizable on-site search tool, that “spoils” you with unique features like:
semantic search
customizable index
machine learning-driven autocomplete
Find out more about this tool and what it can offer you from our post on Cludo as an alternative to Google Site Search.
5. Boost the “Title” Field to Improve Search Relevancy
Say you have a “How to speed clean a kitchen” page on your website (we're assuming that you run a professional cleaning business, remember?).
Now, if a website visitor types “how to clean my kitchen quick” you most certainly want that specific page to show up first, right?
Well, to make that happen you simply boost the title field. Here's how:
go to /admin/config/search/search-api
click “Edit”, next to the index that you're targeting
click “Add Fields”
look for “Title”, under the “Content” heading
hit “Done”
look for your title field scrolling down your list of fields and replace its “Type” from “Strong” to "Fulltext"
configure the “Boost” dropdown that pops up: set the title, fill in the special keywords field...
click the “Save Changes” button
6. Configure the Search View to Your Needs
“How to configure custom search in Drupal 8?” You tweak the default search view...
The good news is that Search API connects with Views, “spoiling” you with loads of flexibility when setting the way your search results get displayed.
But the great news is that you can go even further:
Define a field-based view, add the title and excerpts fields so that your website returns a Google-like title and snippet to its users.
7. Enable the Indexer to “See” the Whole Node
Let me guess: you, too, are using Paragraphs on your Drupal site.
Who doesn't, right? All that flexibility that you get when putting together your web pages is just... irresistible.
Then, you must have already bumped into one “minor” issue:
Your search indexer can't “see” the entire content on a page, since the Paragraphs module breaks it into multiple little pieces.
Luckily, Search API comes to the rescue!
Just add the “Rendered HTML Output” field to your index and you'll enable the indexer to “see” the whole content on a page. Just like your website visitors see it: with references, paragraph entities and all that...
And here's how you incorporate this field:
go to /admin/config/search/search-api
click “Edit”
click “Fields” on top of the page
click “Add Fields”
look for “Rendered HTML Output (rendered_item)” under “General”
click “Add”
Word of caution: you'll then need to select a view mode for all the content types that your search index can access. Make sure you go with the “default” mode (unless you've set up a custom mode of your own) and not the “search results highlight input”.
8. Add a Custom “search_keywords” Field to the Targeted Content Types
Remember the example at the beginning of this post (the one with the “office cleaning” search phrase)?
Now, it's about time we found an answer to this question:
How can you give your content team more control over the returned search results? Over the results ordering...
You set up a new field called “search_keywords” and integrate it with every content-type/bundle that you're targeting:
go to /admin/config/search/search-api
click “Edit”
click “Fields”
click “Add Fields”
look for your newly created “Search Keywords”, under “Content”
click “Add”
look for your new field in the fields list
change its type from “String” to “Fulltext”
configure the “Boost” dropdown showing up (consider setting it to 21...)
click “Save Changes”
The END!
Here are no less than 9 different solutions to your “How to configure a custom search in Drupal 8?” type of dilemma.
Which one would you go with? And why?
Give us a clue in the comments here below.
Image by Republica from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Nov 08'2019
They're both open-source and some highly popular options for cross-platform app development. They're both backed by huge tech communities... so your struggle is real: "React Native vs Flutter: which one should I go with?"
On one hand, you have Flutter, which has gained momentum incredibly fast this year, putting the same question on most developers' lips:
Will Flutter replace React Native?
On the other hand, you have React Native, which has been around for +4 years now and uses "good old" JavaScript.
Should you place your bid on "familiarity" and reliability or should you take the leap and go with a newer, but so promising platform instead?
Speaking of which:
What are Flutter's selling points more precisely? Those that have instantly propelled it in developers' radar so quickly?
Why would you choose Flutter over React Native? And when is the latter the best option?
1. Why Choose Cross-Platform App Development in the First Place?
Why would you go with this approach to mobile app development instead of taking the "native" path?
Here are the most powerful reasons:
you get to write (most of) your code once and use it on multiple platforms
you get to tap into the features of your cross-platform framework of choice to develop various types of mobile apps: social apps, eCommerce apps, interactive apps
you get to build a native-like app without getting tangled up in Android, iOS or Java development
Notes:
optimizing your cross-platform app might get discouraging if you're not prepared for it
expect it to be less performant than its native counterpart
your platform of choice might not ship with all the functionalities that you need (Bluetooth, GPS...), so consider creating new plugins or opting for 3rd party ones to compensate for the lack of certain native features
2. React Native Is an...
... open-source JavaScript framework — or a new version of React, if you wish — launched by Facebook, used for building Android and iOS mobile apps.
Source: Facebook.Github.io
How does it work? What kind of "witchcraft" does happen under its hood that enables you to build a hybrid app? One that works both on iOS and Android?
React Native uses a JavaScript bridge which... bridges your UI code to native components.
3. Reasons Why You Would Choose React Native over Flutter: Top 3
Source: Google Trends
So, going back to our "React Native vs Flutter" dilemma: why would you go with Facebook's "prodigy"?
because it's written in JavaScript (entirely) and so it's much easier to find experienced JS developers for your app project
because it's more... mature: it's been around for +4 years, which translates into reliability and a high level of popularity among developers
because it streamlines the app's development cycle: it's faster (just think "ready-to-use components") to build app-like experiences with React Native than with Flutter
4. Flutter Is...
... Google's open-source SDK, written in Dart, used for building cross-platform apps.
How does it work?
It leverages the skia rendering engine to render Dart-based UI in both Android and iOS.
Source: Flutter.dev
4 Key Features of Flutter:
design-specific features
entirely customized environment
platform-specific SDKs
native-like performance
5. Flutter: Biggest Selling Points and Main Weaknesses
What makes this "new kid on the block" so tempting among developers?
Source: Stack Overflow
What does it bring to the table that React Native can't provide?
it's easier to install it: when using React Native, many developers choose to use Expo precisely for this purpose; there's no way of automating the whole process and you bump into errors pretty often
it's easier to test it compared to the complicated setup that you need to do for testing a React Native app
it uses proprietary UI widget sets (by comparison, React Native uses native components), which give you more freedom to customize your UI block components
it benefits from first-party support for its iOS-style and material design widgets
it uses object-oriented design (due to Dart)
it performs better: Flutter's slightly faster since it depends on a JavaScript bridge, like React Native, for interacting with native components
it speeds up the UI designing process (React Native uses native components, while Flutter uses owner widgets)
And this last one is Flutter's most "seductive" feature:
It allows you to create a new custom layout in no time.
"And why would I be hesitant to choose Flutter over React Native?" you might also ask yourself.
Here are some of the aspects that might discourage you from using Flutter for building your cross-platform app:
there aren't so many developers working in Dart, the language used for writing Flutter, compared to the deep pool of JS professionals
the development process is a bit lengthier
it's still relatively a young platform: you might not have a library for every functionality that you want to implement; not just yet...
6. React Native vs Flutter: You'd Be Better Off With...
... Flutter if:
you need to have your app running on both Android and iOS
you're already an experienced C++/Java developer (or developers in your team are), since it'll then be easier for you to learn Dart
high performance is on top of your priority list
you want a visually-appealing UI for your cross-platform app
And opt for React Native if:
you're already an experienced JavaScript developer
you put a high value on the support of a giant, mature tech community
The END!
How do the scores look like on your evaluation list?
Which of the 2 cross-platform solutions would you go with and why? Let us know in the comments below:
Photo by Coffee Geek on Unsplash
Silviu Serdaru / Nov 06'2019
It sure is “the thing” these days. But does that make it “the perfect... thing” for your project, as well? For your specific project needs and priorities? What is Next.js used for more precisely?
Can it handle both portfolio sites, let's say, and... particularly large web projects?
Is it the best fit for both rarely and frequently updating websites? For both websites depending on a rich third-party ecosystem and those that don't use so many libraries?
Let's dig up some answers on:
when (and when not to)
why
… to use Next.js.
1. But First: What Is Next.js?
It's a lightweight React framework used for server-rendered and static web applications.
Now, if we were to highlight some of its main features, any shortlist would have to include:
(default) server-side rendering
ecosystem compatibility
prefetching
HMR and Error reporting
automatic code-splitting
Note: since it resembles PHP development so much, many developers find it easy to “jump on the Next.js bandwagon”.
2. And How Does It Work?
Next.js renders your React app/website on a server (as opposed to being rendered on the client-side).
Source: GoogleDevelopers
So, do keep in mind that you'll need to have a server... somewhere.
The main gain here is that it supports scenarios where data has to be updated in real-time.
As for the drawbacks of server-rendering:
higher level of complexity: expect to write more code to get everything working properly
it's a bit more challenging when dealing with third-party services
a bit more difficult to deploy (compared to client-side rendering and HTML)
3. What Is Next.js Used for? What Types of Projects Would You Use It For?
Now, back to the question that generated this blog post in the first place:
When should you consider Next.js?
When is it the best choice? Does it serve your... specific use case, for instance?
In this respect, we've identified 3 types of projects that Next.js makes the best fit for:
3.1. When SEO is your top priority
Do you need SSR (server-side rendering) to ensure SEO-friendly pages on your website? Then Next.js is your only option.
It's built to serve precisely this type of project, where good SEO is a crucial objective.
3.2. When content gets updated particularly often
Let's say that new and new data gets uploaded on your website and that the content on your web pages needs to get updated within... 3 minutes, maximum.
Source: When Should You Use Gatsby?
And I'm thinking here:
news sites
large eCommerce websites
property listing websites where new comments get added and descriptions updated on a regular basis
In short: if you expect content on your future website to get updated often, then it writes Next.js all over your project.
4. Final Word
Now, would you care for a piece of advice? When trying to answer questions such as:
“What is Next.js used for?”
“Should I use it on my project or should I go with static?”
… make sure you evaluate both your short-term and long-term needs.
In other words: your website might not need to update its content frequently right NOW, but maybe you're considering scaling it up in the future...
For in that case, build performance and SEO will become some key requirements and your client-side or static architecture won't serve your goals anymore.
Just make sure you coordinate your final choice with your future goals, as well.
Image by Lynn Neo from Pixabay
Silviu Serdaru / Nov 04'2019