What's in a name... after all? Or... in a number in this case. Wouldn't a "Drupal 9 vs Drupal 8" comparison be identical with a "Drupal 8.x vs Drupal 8.y" comparison, except for one number?
So, why is there a need to... change numbers (too)?
Because Drupal depends on the vendor support lifecycles of PHP and Simfony.
As simple as that.
Therefore, Drupal 9 will mark not just the moment when Drupal 8 has been "fully" sanitized of all its deprecated code, but an upgrade to a newer version of Simfony (and Twig).
Note: starting Nov. 2021, Simfony 3, now at the heart of Drupal 8, will no longer receive security patches.
Now, let's have a look at some of the Drupal 9 features in relation to Drupal 8's well-known features, paradigms, and approach to upgrades.
#1 Drupal 8: The Last Version that Breaks with Its Predecessors
The Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 migration was the last hair-pulling upgrade. So they promise us...
Can you sill remember all those high hopes you've had regarding shiny new Drupal 8, its innovation model and all those oh! so tempting improvements?
Then you must surely remember that moving to Drupal 8 quickly turned into an... ordeal. The other side of the "innovation coin" that it seduced us with was that:
It was too different from its predecessors.
So different that... your Drupal 7 contributed modules weren't compatible with it and lots of custom code had to be rewritten.
Well, that was the last cumbersome migration in Drupal.
If you've already got rid of all deprecated APIs by the time Drupal 8.9 turns into Drupal 9, the upgrade will be... silky smooth.
#2 Drupal 9 vs Drupal 8: Expect Simfony 4/5 and Twig 2.0
Image source: Drupal.org
Some of the key differences between the two are the versions of Symfony and Twig that they use/will use.
Since Simfony 3 will go end-of-life in November 2021, Drupal 8, as well, will need to be "sacrificed" for a newer major version of Drupal. One that should use upgraded versions of these PHP projects (Twig and Simfony).
#3 Drupal 9: The First One Backward Compatible with Its Predecessor
Image by MoteOo from Pixabay
And this is a huge difference and leap forward from Drupal 8.
For it's precisely this incompatibility with Drupal 7 that... caused so many headaches during the previous upgrade.
In this respect, Drupal 9's built, from the ground up, to be backward compatible with Drupal 8 from day 1. That, of course, if you keep your current Drupal 8 website up to date and "well-groomed". Cleaned up of all out of date code...
#4 Contributed Modules Will Be Compatible with Both D8 and D9
"The compatibility of contributed modules is historically one of the biggest blockers to upgrading, so we will also make it possible for contributed modules to be compatible with Drupal 8 and Drupal 9 at the same time." (source: Dries Buytaert's' blog)
In short: if you stick to your update routine and keep removing deprecated code, your Drupal 8 contributed and custom modules will be compatible with Drupal 9, as well.
#5 Drupal 9 vs Drupal 8: Without vs With Deprecated Code
There's a major inconvenience that stems from Drupal 8's continuous innovation model:
Innovative features keep... piling up, at high(er) speed.
With every improvement brought to these new features, certain code gets automatically... deprecated and just left there to linger.
So, this is one of the critical differences between the 2 versions: the newer one will be stripped of old code.
#6 Drupal 9 Will Have Updated Third-Party Dependencies
That's right, not only that Drupal 9 will remove support for all code marked as deprecated in Drupal 8, but it will use updated third-party dependencies.
# Final Word
Any Drupal 9 vs Drupal 8 comparison would have to include 2 key differences:
different approaches to upgrades
different versions of the underlying technologies
We're quite curious what's your opinion about the promises made regarding the Drupal 9 release:
that contributed modules will work on both versions of Drupal?
that, since it'll be completely backward compatible, the upgrade will go... uneventful?
Are you confident, sure or skeptical that moving to Drupal 9 will go... hassle-free?
Main image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Sep 23'2019
These days, this is the question on the lips and minds of anyone developing/designing/creating content in Drupal or (just) managing a Drupal website: "What's new in Drupal 9?".
The "fear" is there and it's legitimate...
For the (bad) experience that you've had with upgrading from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 is still haunting you, isn't it? You just cannot forget that the whole process quickly turned into a rewriting of Drupal from the ground up...
Your contributed modules were not compatible with Drupal 8 and there was a ton of custom code to be rewritten...
So, how would an honest "Drupal 9 vs Drupal 8" comparison look like? What completely revolutionary and therefore high-impact features should you expect and... plan for (at least psychologically)?
And I bet that you don't settle for the "The great news is that... there's no breaking news at all" type of answer, either. That's why we've gone beyond this explanation that everyone seems to have embraced by default and dug deeper.
The result? An inventory of all the changes (for there will be, even if not as dramatic as those that we've got used to from the previous major Drupal releases), ranging from:
upgrades of the underlying technology
to a paradigm shift in the Drupal upgrading process itself
to contributed modules that are every likely to get replaced with others
to changes with an impact on Drupal 8's current "load" of third-party dependencies
So, let's dive right in, shall we?
1. Upgrading to Drupal 9 Will Be... Buttery Smooth (Unlike with D8)
And this is the most exciting "no big news, yet a significant mind-shift" type of answer to your "What's new in Drupal 9?" question.
It looks like the Drupal community has learned from its past mistakes... the hard way and it's determined to prevent them. What does this mean for you?
It means that beginning with Drupal 9 all major Drupal software releases will be seamless, painless and... buttery smooth. Basically, Drupal 9 is Drupal 8 stripped off all its deprecated code.
If you've removed all old code and dependencies by Drupal 8.9, upgrading your website to Drupal 9 will be as hassle-free as... any Drupal release.
Image source: Drupal.org
2. What's New in Drupal 9? Newer Major Versions of Symfony and Twig
Ready to say goodbye to Symfony 3? It will get replaced with Symfony 4 or 5 after November 2021.
Also, expect an upgrade to Twig 2.0.
These upgrades can only translate into higher performance, improved developer experience, and enhanced security.
Tip: you might want to take Symfony 4 for a short test drive on your Drupal 8 website, just to see how well it handles the new version.
3. Drupal 9 Drops Support for All Deprecated Code in Drupal 8
Another valid answer to your "What's new in Drupal 9?" question is:
It won't support any code marked as deprecate in Drupal 8.
Tip: since this "sanitizing" process is going to be a long, ongoing one, we suggest you turn it into a routine; keep removing out of date code from your Drupal 8 website to make sure that upgrading it to Drupal 9 will be as... buttery smooth as possible.
Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay
4. Contributed Modules: Expected to Work in Both Drupal 8 and Drupal 9
Now, this is definitely a standout change, that breaks away from the "the news is that... there is no news" opinion.
Practically, there are high chances that contributed modules share a single codebase so that they can work both on Drupal 9 and Drupal 8 websites.
And that's...new in Drupal. A whole new paradigm.
5. Drupal 9 Will Cut Down on Third-Party Dependencies
With all deprecated functionality getting removed by the time Drupal 9 gets released, its load of dependencies will get significantly lighter.
6. Panelizer Is Expected to Get Removed and Replaced
"What's new in Drupal 9?" Well, most likely Panelizer will get replaced with the Layout Builder, the "rockstar" module of the moment.
So, you'd better consider letting go of this module.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
7. The Majority of Drupal 8 Modules Will Be Compatible with Drupal 9
Call it a change, a new approach or... just "something" that sets Drupal 9 apart from its predecessor:
By the time it'll get released, all Drupal 8 contributed modules will be fully compatible with this new major version of Drupal. Almost half of the Drupal 8 modules turned out to be compatible with the analysis run in April this year, so... the future looks highly promising.
8. Final Word
The "nothing new in Drupal 9" shared opinion isn't 100% accurate.
Ok, if we compared this upgrade to the previous one, all these mind-shifts and new approaches in Drupal 9 are, indeed, no painfully disruptive changes.
No new dramatic paradigms of development. But they are, nevertheless... changes.
Differences...
Not so much between Drupal x and Drupal 9, but between an old and a new model of upgrading Drupal.
Main photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Adriana Cacoveanu / Sep 19'2019
What are some powerful Google Site Search alternatives? On-site search solutions that should be:
flexible
effective
versatile (easy to use on any CMS)
quick to set up
easy to configure
cloud-based
AI-powered
… and to provide you with actionable insights on your visitors' search behavior.
How about... Cludo, an internal search engine, and insights generator?
Now, you might want to keep your “feature wishlist” at hand as you evaluate this competitor to Google's custom search solution.
1. But What Is Cludo?
It's a robust on-site search tool that you can easily set up on your website, no matter what CMS you're using.
This way, you add a search interface where you can pull relevant data on your visitor's search behavior.
Its greatest strength? Its ease of use:
It empowers you, irrespective of your technical level, to set it up and to further optimize the content it delivers, quick and easy.
Unlike other Google site search alternatives, with Cludo you get easy access to actionable analytics. With a simple to use dashboard, you can pull powerful data and use it to constantly improve users' site search experience without having to be a... data analyst expert.
2. What Makes Cludo One of the Best Google Site Search Alternatives?
And still:
“Which are those unique features that Cludo provides?”
For there must be other key reasons why it's now rivaling Google's own custom site search solution...
Well, let me highlight just some of its most powerful features:
customizable index: you get to customize the criteria so that certain pages get pushed forward; you even get to specify what type of content should and shouldn't be searchable
machine learning-based autocomplete: it provides users with robust suggestions and corrects their misspellings in real-time
actionable search insights: it provides you with key data on who your website visitors are and what precisely they're searching for; you can tap into this information to deliver engaging and relevant content, to further optimize users' site search experience
an easy-to-use interface: Cludo's UI is designed so that even if you're not a technical user you should still be able to configure your on-site search solution quick and easy
semantic search: it delivers accurate and relevant results even if your website visitors type in words that are totally different from your anticipated search terms; Cludo taps into intelligent semantics, uses bigrams and synonyms to deliver the most comprehensive search results
3. Cludo vs Google Custom Site Search Engine
What if we confronted the two powerful site search solutions?
Which would be the Google limitations that we would see exploited and counterbalanced by robust Cludo features?
3.1. Google Custom Search Engine
Its functionality is pretty straightforward: thanks to the search bar added to your website, your visitors can look for specific content quickly.
Now, when it comes to its limitations, there are a few:
fewer customization options
it doesn't provide you with the tools (e.g. actionable analytics) needed to constantly improve and customize the site search experience delivered on your website
3.2. Cludo
Now, when it comes to Cludo, it does ship with some unique features that come to “exploit” Google Site Search's lack of them:
first of all, it's equipped with all the features you need for customizing the site experience: you get an easy to use dashboard where you can pull relevant analytics on your users' behavior and specific needs
… this way, you can tailor the delivered content accordingly and provide them a fully customized site experience
it ships with a banner analytics feature: you can add banners to your results page for... upcoming events, key search terms, etc.
The END!
Summing up now:
If, when evaluating some of the Google Site Search alternatives, you value particularly those features that enable you to customize the user experience, then Cludo might just be the solution you're looking for.
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / Jul 29'2019
After working with clients of all different sizes, we can tell you they all want us to do the same thing: develop products with their end user in mind. Whether we’re building a mobile app, a website, or a custom software solution, we know that if the end user finds the final product to have great functionality and great design, it will leave both them and the client happy. As a digital agency and Drupal firm, we strive to achieve this on every project which is why Clutch has us listed as one of the top Drupal developers in Canada in 2019.
Clutch is a B2B ratings and reviews website based out of Washington, D.C. Their platform also makes it easy for clients to find and connect with the service providers that they think will provide the best partnership on their project. The site also ranks the vendors according to their focus and ability to deliver. The focus score depends on the services they offer while the ability to deliver is determined by a few different factors such as client reviews, work experience, market presence, and awards. Clutch analysts interview previous clients about past projects to verify client reviews. They are conducted either on the phone or online with an in-depth questionnaire to get all of the details regarding the project.
Currently, we have 8 total client reviews on our profile, and we’ve averaged a nearly perfect 4.8/5-Star rating! Take a look at our most recent reviews:
“I appreciate how detail-oriented they are. That’s not a strength everyone has.” – President, GSATi
“They were able to perform the work quickly and professionally and gave us exactly what
we wanted.” – Technology Manager, Mary Macleod’s Shortbread
“From Day 1, the communication has been the hallmark and has been phenomenal.” –
Technology Coordinator, Regina Public Schools
In addition to their main site, Clutch runs two more platforms that help connect businesses together. The first site is called The Manifest and publishes business news, insights, and best practices to help companies achieve their goals. We are also found on their list of the top Shopify developers in Canada in 2019. Their other site is Visual Objects. It hosts business portfolios so that mobile app development companies like ourselves and other creative firms can show off their past work.
We look forward to growing our presence on Clutch throughout the rest of 2019. If your business is interested in creating an app or a new website, contact us We can’t wait to hear from you!
Adriana Cacoveanu / May 22'2019
May 13-15, Las Vegas. You don't want to miss these dates if you're: an eCommerce expert, a Magento merchant, a Magento developer, a marketing technology provider, a Magento partner or an e-business owner... The Magento Imagine 2019 is just around the corner and is that annual gathering of the members of the eCommerce community across the globe that... you can't afford to skip.
Take it as:
an opportunity to get inspired by some of the biggest innovators in eCommerce
a great chance to network and mingle with industry leaders
the chance to be among the first to learn about the latest Magento news right from the company's executives...
the annual event where all those who've excelled as Magento merchants, brands or branded manufacturers get spotlighted and honored
1. What To Expect?
“3 days jampacked with breakout and special sessions, live keynote sessions, customer panels, and networking events”.
There'll be 3000:
Magento merchants
agencies
technology providers
developers
partners
... from +60 countries “flocking” to Vegas for this annual gathering. Therefore, expect an “avalanche” of shared best practices, innovative ideas, unique Magento experiences, and “steamy fresh” Magento news and updates.
And speaking of shared Magento experiences, here are just some of the big names in the digital commerce arena coming to... inspire you, as speakers:
Troy Brown, President of North America at Zumiez Inc.
Jules Pieri, The Grommet's Co-founder & CEO
Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia & Chairman of VaynerX
2. Magento Imagine 2019: The Excellence Awards Categories
Ok, so we've got this settled: the Magento Imagine Awards recognize and reward successful and creative merchants and partners all over the world.
“But what are the awards categories, more precisely?”, you might ask yourself.
They range from:
“Best-in-class omnichannel experience”
to “Best B2B innovations”
to “Best digital experience”
to “Best mobile commerce experience”
… and the list goes on, as there are 15 different categories of excellence in digital commerce.
3. Why Would You Attend It?
Let's say you're not one of the nominees: why would you want to attend Magento Imagine 2019?
What's in it for you?
Here's how it benefits you:
you'll be the first to learn all the “juicy” news and updates about Magento, the latest platform developments and opportunities in eCommerce to explore and... to exploit
you'll get the chance to learn and to grow your own e-business: from best practices presentations to inspiring case studies, to training opportunities and to the latest products in Magento sponsors' marketplace, it makes an event “packed” with... growth opportunities for you to leverage
you'll be networking and mingling with senior executives, eCommerce innovators, marketers, developers from the Magento ecosystem, so expect a “flood” of creative ideas, strategies, and technologies coming through, from all the biggest innovators in the digital marketing arena...
3 full days of learning, letting yourself be inspired and collaborating from/by/with everyone in the Magento community who aims for excellence in their field...
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
Adriana Cacoveanu / May 08'2019
We wanted to share this good news with you: OPTASY, the Canadian Drupal firm, has been ranked as a 2019 "Canada leader" in 3 categories of the Clutch annual list.
Top Development Firms in Canada
Canada Top Web Developers
Best PHP Developers in Canada
Thank you!
For taking the time to answer the Clutch team's questions and give your honest feedback on working with us. For challenging us to be our best and turn our expertise into your results.
We're looking forward to working with you on new projects.
Sincerely,
The OPTASY team
Adriana Cacoveanu / Mar 07'2019
The future is now... That predicted future where Node.js dominates the landscape of the application and web development technologies. And so, the “tormenting” question that you're dealing with right now must be: “But what are the best Node.js frameworks in 2019?”
Followed closely by:
“And which one of them should I use? Which one of these web server frameworks best fits my own project requirements?”
And, as a Quora user pointed out:
“This is just like asking what clothes to wear out. It depends on where you're going right?”
To give you a hand, we've weighed the pros and cons, both the developers' and the end-users reviews. We've compared their “stocks” of GitHub stars, and shortlisted the Node.js frameworks to... 5 frameworks holding a higher scope than the rest:
But First, What Is a Node.js Framework More Precisely?
First of all, yet without getting knee-deep into technical jargon, let's briefly pass in review the main reasons why Node.js — a tool for developing server-side web apps quick and easy — has got so influential:
It enables developers to build fast and scalable server-side apps.
And it all comes down to these 2 key benefits.
All that talk about:
its innovative event-based I/O model
about it being conveniently lightweight
about single-threaded asynchronous programming
… can be reduced to these 2 “irresistible” advantages.
And by “fast” I don't refer to page loading times only, but to the fact that it speeds up the development process itself, as well:
With Node.js implementing the server side, developers don't need to “joggle with” 2 languages anymore. One for the back-end/server-side and one for the front-end/client-side.
Now, back to the initial question:
“What is a Node.js framework?”
Take it as some sort of Node.js-based abstract design or “skeleton” that you can build your own custom code on.
An... empowering “skeleton” that comes packed with:
a set of tools
guidelines and best practices
… that help you/your development team quickly prototype and develop your project.
And, since its out-of-the-box features help you keep code consistency throughout the team, a Node.js framework will implicitly:
boost your productivity
enhance your app project's scalability
Does that answer your question?
1. Express.js
It stands out as “the minimalist” framework in our list here:
A Node.js-based technology that takes on the role of a middleware between our servers and routes.
And its robust APIs are one of the main “culprits” for its increasing popularity — one of the best Node.js frameworks in 2019.
It practically enables app developers to set up routes to send/receive requests between the database (MongoDB) and the front-end (Angular).
Another one of its “selling points” is given by the heavy load of packages that you can just “inject” into the Express.js framework to extend its functionality.
Benefits:
low learning curve
short app development cycle time
ideally customizable
mostly browser-focused, meaning that templating and rendering comes as a default feature
great 3rd party integration (Pug, EJS, Mustache, and other template engines and modules available on NPM)
Drawbacks:
its code organization
event-driven callbacks (a type of architecture that “tempts” you with unmatched flexibility at the price of... unwanted complexity as your app scales up)
2. Meteor JS
The key advantage that propelled Meteor in the 5 best Node.js frameworks in 2019? Real-time updating.
And there's more! It's built to power really large projects (e.g. Reaction Commerce) and, if documentation is a particularly heavy-weighing criterion for you, this framework's backed by a large community.
One that has already put together rich and clear documentation to help you get your web app up and running in no time.
Benefits:
real-time testing tool and debugging
a wide range of libraries and packages to boost its core functionality with
seamless client-server communication
Drawbacks:
there's no native widget library
no MongoDB support
… PWA support
… or rendering on the server-side, either
3. Sails.js, One of the Best Node.js Frameworks in 2019
The most... compatible Node.js framework in our list, we could say.
For Sails.js “gets along well” with:
almost all databases
most of the front-end technologies, as well (Angular, Android/Java, Backbone, React, iOS/Objective C)
the great majority of adapters: Mongo, MYSQL, Local Disk, Redis, PostgreSQL
And it's not at all “picky” when it comes to the types of controllers, models, views, adapters, and configuration files that the applications that it powers might include.
In short: it's a highly compatible framework with data-based APIs and service-oriented, scalable architecture. One that gives you a more... robust “skeleton” to start with, we might say.
Benefits:
it separates business logic from presentation logic
it can store data anywhere
it speeds up the Rest API building process
no additional routing
generates free JSON API
good Socket.io support
Drawbacks:
it's one of the... slow Node.js frameworks
time-consuming project development process
poor asset management
4. Koa.js
Developed by the same team that designed Express.js, Koa sets itself apart from the rest of the Node.js frameworks in our top here with some unique features:
it uses next-generation methods of ES6 that enables you to work without callbacks
… and grants you more control when it comes to error handling
there's no middleware, which means that the lines of code are more granular, the middlewares are more... component-based, more cascaded
… thus granting you with increased control over your configuration
Why has the Express.js team decided to build a new Node.js framework? What have been their major goals:
to build a smaller sized framework compared to Express.js
…. a more expressive one
to provide developers with a more robust “scaffolding” for building their web apps and APIs on
Benefits:
easier to control error handling
it's significantly lighter than other frameworks
modular structure
it gave up on callbacks and thus removed all the well-known asynchronous issues
support for Sync/await keywords
cascading middlewares
Drawbacks:
it's not compatible with express-style middleware, with Node.js middleware
there isn't a large community to rely on for support
5. LoopBack.js
One of the best Node.js frameworks in 2019 that “spoils” you with:
a dynamic API web browser
easy-to-use CLI
What makes it unique in our list here? The fact that it empowers developers to build their own models based on their own dynamic models or schemas.
To come up with their own server API, that would be further assigned to a new server. Pretty much like building an API that's proxy for... another API.
In addition to that, it supports a whole range of databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, MongoDB, and REST services.
Benefits:
fast development cycle
modular and structured code
available add-on components for Oauth2, 3rd-party login, file management
support for browser and native mobile SDKs: iOS, Android/Java, JavaScript browser
you can rapidly create dynamic end-to-end REST APIs
Drawbacks:
monolithic, opinionated architecture
steep learning curve
Final Word
As already mentioned, at the beginning of this post: a mere inventory of the best Node.js frameworks in 2019 is not the answer.
It's the best web server framework for your own project's requirements that you need.
What are your priorities when it comes to the benefits that you “reap” from using one Node.js framework over the other? Is it:
top speed?
fast development
high maintainability
rich documentation and a thriving community backing it up?
Friendly advice: don't invest all your resources in learning one such Node.js framework since new, more tempting and feature-rich ones will emerge. Instead, learn the business in the front-end/back-end or the language itself (JavaScript) to future-proof your... investment.
RADU SIMILEANU / Jan 31'2019
We still can't get over this news: there are 4500 top performing companies in Canada featured on Clutch and OPTASY's a leader in 3 categories!
Top Drupal Development Companies in Canada
Canada: Top Web Developers
Best PHP Developers in Canada
Our clients have spoken and the Clutch team has listened to them.
Then, based on the collected client reviews, they've propelled us on the 4th, respectively the 5th position of 3 most competitive categories on their annual list.
To be “neighboring”, in the Leaders Matrix, all those top web development companies in Canada and to owe this honor to our clients is highly rewarding for us:
“From day 1, the communication has been the hallmark and has been phenomenal.”
“They stepped up in terms of commitment.”
“I appreciate how detail-oriented they are. That's not a strength everyone has“
(Some of our clients' reviews on Clutch)
From Just Another Drupal Development Company to... a 2019 Canada Leader
Our ascension from a small Drupal agency in early 2000 to one of the leading companies on Clutch in 2019 has been paved with hard work.
And plenty of challenges, too.
Looking back now, we count +10 years of determined effort to constantly diversify our services:
from Drupal site building
to developing custom Drupal modules to fit each project's specific feature needs
to multiple APIs (and mostly e-commerce) integrations
to providing ongoing Drupal maintenance and support
to redesigning and architectural restructuring
to providing back-end development support for web projects using other technologies than Drupal (Magento, WordPress, Laravel...), as well
to mobile app development with a particular focus on next-generation technologies (AI, VR, AR)
Our Strive for Excellence Is Equaled Only By Our Effort to Build Strong Client Relationships
We're only as good as our clients say we are.
It might sound like such a cliche and yet it's true: our recognition as a Canada Clutch leader for 2019 is the best proof.
For it's what our clients had to say about our ability:
to deliver value (expertise turned into measurable results) on time and within budget
to communicate with them throughout the projects
to adapt our in-depth knowledge of Drupal and experience in web development to their specific needs and requirements
to “go above and beyond” (as the Clutch team itself defined our work) for meeting their projects' functionality needs
… that propelled us in top 5 PHP, web and Drupal development teams in Canada.
We cannot but make our bow to YOU, our client.
And to the Clutch team, as well, for all the work invested in:
analyzing our portfolio
assessing our market presence
… and for all the resources invested in interviewing our clients and promoting excellence. For challenging B2B companies to deliver stellar services.
Now, what better proof that we've already taken their challenge to excellence seriously than to be listed in one of Clutch's Leaders Matrix as a leader.
In 3 categories...
Thank you!
Adriana Cacoveanu / Jan 29'2019
Let's say you've been working on this contributed project for a few months now. It has gone from Beta 1 to Beta 2 to Beta... Now, how long till its final release? How do you know when it's ready for the Drupal community to see and use? And this is precisely why the Drupal quality initiative was launched in the first place.
So that can we finally have some sort of a checklist at hand to use whenever we need to assess our code's level of quality:
the standards that we should evaluate our contributed projects by
the specific elements that go into the quality of our projects, such as contributed Drupal modules
a certain hierarchy of quality that we could rate our own projects by
And so on...
For, let's admit it now:
Except for our own personal methodologies for self-assessment, there's no standardized benchmark that could help us evaluate our contributed Drupal projects. There's no way of knowing for sure when our projects are 100% ready to go from beta to... full release.
Now, here are the legitimate questions that this initiative brings forward, along with some of the suggested paths to take:
1. What Drupal-Specific Quality Metrics Should We Use to Evaluate Our Code?
How do you know when your contributed project is efficient enough to... be used by other members of the Drupal community?
You need some sort of criteria for measuring its level of quality, right?
2. The Drupal Quality Initiative: A Checklist for Project Quality Assessment
And this is how the “Big Checklist” for Drupal modules has been put together. One outlining all those areas of a contributed Drupal project that you should carefully evaluate when assessing its quality.
Areas such as:
team management
documentation
testing
code
design
requirements
DevOps
All those factors and Drupal-specific elements that go into the quality of a contributed project.
3. Introducing the Idea of a Multi-Leveled Quality Hierarchy
What if we had multiple levels of quality to rate our Drupal projects?
Imagine some sort of hierarchy of quality that would challenge us to keep improving the way we write code for Drupal. To keep growing as teams working with Drupal.
Your project might be rated “level 1”, from a quality standpoint, on its first release. But it would still stand stand the chance to get a higher score for if you strove to meet all the other criteria on the checklist.
4. You'll Be Particularly Interested in The Drupal Quality Initiative If You're A...
Site builder, scanning through the pile of contributed Drupal modules in search of the ones that perfectly suit your project's specific needs
Drupal contributor in need of some sort of checklist that would include all those standards of quality and best practices to help you assess your own code's value
5. What About Non-Drupal Software Projects? How Is Their Quality Assessed?
In other words: how do other communities assess their projects' levels of quality?
What metrics do they use?
And here, the Drupal quality initiative's... initiator gives the “The Capability Maturity Level”, set up by the Software Engineering Institute, as an example.
The process model highlights 5 levels of “maturity” that a project can reach throughout its different development phases.They range from:
the“initial chaos”
to planning and collecting project requirements
… all the way to continuous process improvement
Now, just imagine a similar multi-level evolutionary benchmark that we could use to assess our own Drupal projects' levels of... maturity.
6. A Few Quality Indicators and Suggested Tools
And the whole Drupal Quality Initiative comes down to identifying the key endpoints for assessing a project's quality, right?
Here are just some of the suggested questions to use during this evaluation process:
Is it easy to use?
Does it perform the intended functions?
Is it efficient enough?
How many detected bugs are there per 1000 lines of code
How secure is it?
Now, for giving the most accurate answers to these quality assessing questions, you'll need the right toolbox, right?
All those powerful tools to help you:
check whether your code is spell checked
monitor the status of specific operations
check whether all strings use translation
see whether your code has been properly formatted
The END! And this is just a brief overview of the Drupal Quality Initiative.
What do you think now, does the suggested checklist stand the chance to turn into a standardized Drupal benchmark for assessing quality?
How do you currently determine your contributed projects' value?
Adriana Cacoveanu / Jan 25'2019