PHP UK 2023 - Track 3 (King Vault)

Explore the future of Drupal development, infrastructure automation, and user experience with updates on jQuery replacement, type hinting, and low-code initiatives, including Symfony's influence and performance at scale.

Key takeaways
  • There are only a few people working full-time on Drupal.org infrastructure, making automation crucial.
  • Despite efforts, it’s still challenging to remove jQuery and replace it with more modern tools.
  • The Drupal security team is 30 people strong, and the community is working on replacing custom infrastructure with more standard tools.
  • The upcoming era of strict typing and automation will help improve Drupal’s performance and experience.
  • Symfony’s influence will continue to shape Drupal’s development and patterns.
  • There’s a need to improve the user experience for site builders and developers alike.
  • Drupal 10 is out, and its new features and improvements are making it more accessible and user-friendly.
  • The community is working on replacing custom tools with standard ones, such as using GitLab CI and PHPStan.
  • Performance at scale is a concern, but progress is being made.
  • Custom modules and configurations are being replaced with more standard tools and practices.
  • There’s a push to make Drupal more low-code and user-friendly, especially for site builders.
  • The community is working to eliminate hooks and replace them with more standard patterns.
  • Acquia dev desktop is a helpful tool for developers.
  • Automatic updates are on the horizon, and the community is working to improve the user experience.