Create Drupal 6 Modules with New Book

Drupal is a free and open-source modular web application framework and content management system (CMS) written in PHP. It can run in many environments, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD. 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.

If users are eager to start creating modules for Drupal 6, this is their book. They will walk through the development of complete Drupal modules with this primer for PHP programmers. Specifically written for Drupal 6, this book will get users coding modules as quickly as possible, and help them add the features that will give their work that professional gloss!

This book will give users a clear, concise and, of course, practical guidance to take them from the basics of creating their first module to developing the skills to make them a Drupal developer to be reckoned with. Learning Drupal 6 Module Development covers the new and updated APIs to guide their transition to Drupal 6. The new menu system, the Forms and Schema APIs, and many core revisions are covered in this book.

This book is written for PHP developers who want to add custom features to Drupal. Users will need to know the basics of PHP and MySQL programming, but no experience of programming Drupal is required, although they will be expected to be familiar with the basic operation of Drupal.

What you will learn from this book

* A developer's overview of important Drupal concepts and APIs, like nodes, menus, and forms
* Using Drupal tools for module development
* Creating a new module from scratch
* Harnessing the power of the Drupal hook system
* Using key Drupal functions
* Creating custom content types, from basic to advanced
* Performing database operations
* Writing module installers and uninstallers
* Making Drupal content available to JavaScript with a JSON service
* Interacting with the theme system to build crisp layouts
* Creating richer user interfaces with Drupal's JavaScript libraries
* Working with blocks, nodes, actions, and menus
* Using a web service to retrieve and display XML data
* Creating an administration interface
* Customizing user profiles
* Writing actions and triggering them with events
* Working with the Forms API
* Defining custom hooks and making modules work together
* Exploring the database and schema API
* Creating an installation profile to bundle your modules into a custom Drupal distribution

Author(s)

Matt Butcher
Matt Butcher is the principal consultant for Aleph-Null, Inc. where he specializes in content management systems, Linux system integration, and Open Source technologies. He has been an active participant in Open Source technologies for over a decade. Along with Learning Drupal 6, Matt has also written Mastering OpenLDAP, Managing and Customizing OpenCms 6, and Building Websites with OpenCms, all of which are published by Packt. When not pushing bits, Matt likes to explore Colorado with his wife and three daughters.

For more details on the book please visit http://www.packtpub.com/drupal-6-module-development/book