Walk through the development of complete Drupal 6 modules with this primer for PHP programmers, written specifically for Drupal 6 to get you started coding your first module. With great power comes... tremendous flexibility. Drupal is an award-winning open-source Content Management System, and the feature-packed sixth release is right around the corner. It's a modular system, with an elegant hook-based architecture, and great code. These are a few of the perks that make Drupal a choice platform for developers who want the power of an established CMS, but the freedom to make it work for them. From social networking to AJAX to e-commerce, the hundreds of existing modules attest to Drupal's flexibility. When you create a new module for Drupal, it fits seamlessly into the look and feel of your overall site. If you can think it in PHP, you can code it as a Drupal module. Dive into Drupal module development as we create the Philosopher Biographies website, developing new modules and themes to meet practical goals. Create custom content types. Add AJAX functionality with the jQuery library. Use external XML APIs to add content to your site. Email newsletters to site members. Use themes. Empower administrators with extra features. And bundle it all up in a custom installation profile. You won't find a "hello world" here! If you're eager to start creating modules for Drupal 6, this is your book. Walk through the development of complete Drupal modules with this primer for PHP programmers. Specifically written for Drupal 6, this book will get you coding modules as quickly as possible, and help you add the features that will give your work that professional gloss! Just getting started with Drupal development? This book will give you a clear, concise and, of course, practical guidance to take you from the basics of creating your first module to developing the skills to make you a Drupal developer to be reckoned with. Are you a Drupal developer looking to update to version 6? This book covers the new and updated APIs to guide your transition to Drupal 6. The new menu system, the Forms and Schema APIs, and many core revisions are covered in this book.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 10 Ratings

A solid guide to drupal, and a good introduction for experienced PHP developers - 2008-09-04
Reviewer Rating:
Last autumn's release of Pro Drupal Development was a significant moment in the history of the popular CMS, providing for the first time a relatively comprehensive guide for those wanting to do more than simply manage and skin a drupal site. A number of books have followed it but few have delved as deeply or been such a definitive guide.

Like most of the more recent books, Learning Drupal 6 Module Development focusses on a quite specific area of drupal development, but its a key one for any serious developer and touches every other area of the system. Experienced PHP developers may find that this book (in conjunction with some time for experimentation) will serve as a solid introduction to how they might build applications on top of drupal.

The book focusses on a single project--a website providing biographies of philosophers--and builds the modules it needs, introducing the various available tools and techniques along the way. Much of the time is devoted to generating custom content types, but there's very solid coverage of the hooks, filters, and actions that let modules really take integrate with the rest of the framework. Theming your output, using AJAX, and working with web services all get some time and illustrate how your app can be part of the wider web and keep up with its prevailing trends. A number of times I found myself reaching for code I'd written over the past few months to make amendments based on examples in the book.

I've been quite critical of books from packt lately and some of my criticisms apply here--he book itself feels flimsy and the print quality is poor--but this is also evidence that if an author and editor put the work in they do occasionally produce quality material despite the publisher. There are a number of asides that clarify language which demonstrate an attention to detail too often missing. It would have been good to see clearer signposts as to which features are new in Drupal 6 and which were available previously, but the online API docs can provide most of that.

When I reviewed Pro Drupal Development I noted some disappointment that the book didn't devote any time to automated testing of drupal code, and that criticism applies here too. Along with staged deployments, automated testing remains one of the least considered aspects of drupal and that's a serious concern for those looking to build robust well-managed applications on top of it. There are a few good articles online about how to test drupal code, but it would be good to see it taken more seriously as a core part of the module development process.

This book is likely to sit alongside Pro Drupal Development on my desk whenever I'm working on a drupal project and is a worthwhile investment for anyone who spends much time building drupal modules. There are clear areas for improved coverage, but it is as comprehensive an account as you'll find of how to build modules that take full advantage of the facilities Drupal provides.

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for review by the publisher.

Good book but glaring ommission with core code example - 2009-02-16
Reviewer Rating:
First off, I have to say that Matt Butcher is an excellent writer. I really like the way he takes a concept, let's you know where he is going, and then follows up with a lucid explanation. He does a great job of explaining his code.

However, on reading the other glowing reviews listed here on Amazon I seriously wonder how many actually tried to work through the example code contained in the book.

Chapter two gives the foundational example of building a module that accesses an RSS feed [...]. The code in the book does not work. So, diligent little beaver that I am, I went to the publisher's web site and checked the errata file. Sure enough, there were corrections to the code. After updating the code, it still didn't work. Finally, I downloaded the code examples from the publisher and found that the working code is *significantly* different than the example in the book! The changes found in the downloaded code not only differ from the book, but also from the corrections in the errata.

So, why do I still give this four stars? Well, it is still a very good book. Matt's skill as a technical writer is noticeably above the majority of technical authors I come across, and you will learn a great deal through reading this book. Just be sure you download the code archive from the publisher, and take the code in the book with a grain of salt until you compare it.

A good place to start! - 2009-01-16
Reviewer Rating:
I was very excited to receive my copy of "Learning Drupal 6 Module Development" by Matt Butcher. So excited, I asked my wife, "Guess the title of the awesome book I just got?" Her sarcastic reply tells you much about me and the regular lecture she gets, "DRUPAL!?". Ok, so I'm a little beyond this book but the title is so great!

This book aims to provide a sound foundation for programmers new to Drupal on which to build and customize their own features in the form of a module. The ability to add features so simply is the true power of Drupal. Drupal's real goodness isn't truly experienced until you have added 20 contributed modules (over 3500 available today) and several custom modules of your own. It's this ability to extend, transform and over-ride Drupal at your pleasure that Butcher wants to empower you to do. If you are new to Drupal but not to programming I think you will find this book hits it mark. I definitely recommend this book.

The book works you through building an example module like all good technical books should. The example is not trivial and in so Butcher is able to walk you through the major components of building your first module. As I paint this book to be a good reference for those wanting to learn Drupal module development it must be compared to the established king of Drupal references, "Pro Drupal Development" (PDD) by John Vandyk. Although I think that the first book you should buy is PDD, Drupal demands volumes of books to cover the progressing target that is Drupal Knowledge. Butcher's book is slightly more focused than PDD and so is worth the read.

For the past 4 years, I have written Drupal modules daily. I don't recommend this book to an established Drupal developer like myself. Drupal module development has matured a great deal and the standards are high. In order to build the killer module it has to have Content Construction Kit (CCK), Views and Panels integration built in. These three contributed modules are utilized in every project I do lately. All three are being adopted rapidly and migrating to Drupal core. A module that is not CCK, Views and Panels aware is missing it's true potential. I do recognize including these addition were not feasible at the time as these modules had not been ported to Drupal 6 yet and would likely require 3 times the paper to cover. In addition, the newest bar for Drupal module developers to clear is built in automated tests. Without automated tests, you can't expect to build and confirm your modules to be robust enough for the wild wild west that is the Web. It may be fair to say this is too demanding a level to expect of a book of this scope but when I got to the end of "Learning Drupal 6 Module Development" those are the chapters I wanted next. The weak index and lack of an API reference are also disappointing.

Despite the fact that I am a little disappointed in the new knowledge available to someone with my experience, I do recommend this book to someone wanting to start the never ending training of Drupal module development. Butcher does cover the changes in Drupal since version 5 well (menu system is lacking): A revamped theming system, more robust install profile system, actions and sending mail. If you have no experience with PHP development I recommend starting with, "Building powerful and robust web sites with Drupal 6" by David Mercer.

Excellent Hands-On Way to Learn - 2008-11-29
Reviewer Rating:
Working through this book is like having a Drupal expert sit down and walk you through everything you need to know to jump into Drupal module development. It's a pleasant read with a really nice balance between information and practical application.

I was surprised at how quickly I was creating my first module. There is some excellent information on how the core modules of Drupal work as well, so there is a lot here even if someone doesn't want to create their own module, but just wants to know Drupal better. Also a must have for anyone who might want to work on an existing module.

This is a really great book and it doesn't hurt that buying it means that part of the money Packt makes on the book goes to Drupal. Readers will be equipped to better contribute to the community and funding it financially while helping themselves out at the same time. Pretty nice.

Good developers intro for Drupal - 2008-10-20
Reviewer Rating:
This book is a good one for people getting into programming Drupal and switching to Drupal 6. Examples are explained in great detail so those without a strong Drupal background will find this book a great choice.

Material is handled in projects - so a project that involves many aspects of Drupal will be covered in a single chapter. This is good for learning how these difference capabilities can be mixed, but could make it hard to use the book as a reference later. For example, while programming practices that cover security are included, they are spread all over the book and there is no index entry for security. So the book is better for reading through than trying to look something specific up.

The book got 4 stars instead of 5 because a few key subjects, like the menu system, were not covered nearly well enough.

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