Learning Drupal 6 Module Development: A practical tutorial for creating your first Drupal 6 modules with PHP

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.

Matt Butcher

Matt Butcher is a senior programmer at Palantir.net, where he specializes in content management systems, web services, and browser scripting. He has been an active participant in Open Source technologies for over a decade. Matt has written five books for Packt, including Learning Drupal 6 Module Development, Mastering OpenLDAP, and Drupal 6 JavaScript and jQuery., all of which are published by Packt. Matt writes his technical blog at technosophos.com. When not pushing bits, Matt likes to explore Chicago with his wife and three daughters.