10 Things I Hate About [Drupal] Code

Mark Jones
@JustAnotherMark

Intro

Why did I tell you that?

"…criticism without risk to the critic has no value whatsoever…"

Mark Kermode - Hatchet Job

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bensutherland/9775724251/

Intro

Things That Annoy Me

General
Drupal Modules
Drupalisms
Finally

General

1. Coding Standards

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crdot/6827236335

General

1. Coding Standards

Understanding
Consistency
Collaboration

General

1. Coding Standards

Read drupal.org
- https://drupal.org/coding-standards
Use Codesniffer & git hooks
Raise issues & make patches

General

2. Commit Size

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beglen/151603155

General

2. Commit Size

How to undo a problem commit?
Where is the bug?
When did the build break?

General

2. Commit Size

Use git add -p
Standardise message format
Reference task/bug in message

General

3. Bad Commenting

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lobsterboy1980/3565047496

General

3. Bad Commenting

Why did they do that?
Why did I do that?
Commented out code

General

3. Bad Commenting

Complete all DocBlocks
Set up auto-complete
Document anything unusual
Version control branches
Code completion tools
Patch contrib!

Modules

4. Field Collection

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/3073143387

Modules

4. Field Collection

Mostly works
Hard work when it doesn't
Unnecessary complication

Modules

4. Field Collection

Custom entity/node type
Entity reference
Inline Entity Form
- https://drupal.org/project/inline_entity_form
More reliable, consistent & Drupal-y

Modules

5. Workflow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/4550903693

Modules

5. Workflow

[Mostly] functional
Poor UI/UX
Outdated structure
Slow development (although improving)

Modules

5. Workflow

Workbench Module
- https://drupal.org/project/workbench
- Built with D7/Field API in mind
- Better submodule separation (Access, Moderation, Files, Media)

Modules

6. Date

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelanman/366190064

Modules

6. Date

Abandoned until last month
Still 1089 open issues & 567 bugs

Modules

6. Date

No alternative
Search for similar issues when the arise

Drupalisms

7. Module All The Things

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37709691@N05/4852805286/

Drupalisms

7. Module All The Things

Large site can have >100 modules
Temptation to put every alter in separate module

Drupalisms

7. Module All The Things

Group sensible changes together (especially Features)
Consider submodules
Use .inc files
Avoiding too many modules
- https://drupal.org/node/1141442
Do you really need a whole module for one feature?

Drupalisms

8. Hacking Core (or Contrib)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meddygarnet/3451581786

Drupalisms

8. Hacking Core (or Contrib)

Can't update
More likely to introduce security holes
Just don't do it
https://drupal.org/best-practices/do-not-hack-core

Drupalisms

8. Hacking Core (or Contrib)

Bugs happen
Create patches directory/file
All patches must have a d.o issue
Check back often
If specific use case add alter

Drupalisms

9. Contrib

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonparis/4788901592

Drupalisms

9. Contrib

Difficult to find modules
Difficult to compare modules
Difficult/absent maintainers

Drupalisms

9. Contrib

Check popular distributions
Check most popular modules
- https://drupal.org/project/usage
Blog posts
- http://www.lullabot.com/taxonomy/term/1266
- http://www.drupalcommerce.org/blog/tagged/commerce-module-tuesday
Podcasts
- https://modulesunraveled.com/
SimplyTest.me
- http://simplytest.me

Drupalisms

10. Admin Area

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35565491@N03/3292423645

Drupalisms

10. Admin Area

Hardcoded listing pages
Strange structure
Difficult to customise

Drupalisms

10. Admin Area

Admin Views module
- http://drupal.org/project/admin_views
Admin module
- https://drupal.org/project/admin
Admin Menu module
- https://drupal.org/project/admin_menu
Module Filter module
- https://drupal.org/project/module_filter
Filter Permissions module
- https://drupal.org/project/filter_perms

Finally

Code I've Written

Accept criticism
Encourage debate
Be bold

Summary

D8 Summary

Coding Standards - Big structural changes
Commit Size - Unaffected
Bad Commenting - More important (annotations, class discovery, etc)
Commented out code - Unaffected
Field Collection - Please stop
Workflow - State revisions in core, https://groups.drupal.org/workflow
Date - Date component and field in core
Module All The Things - Some improvement in discussions
Contrib - Hopefully lose some in the process
Admin Area - Mobile improvements, List pages are Views
Code I've Written - Always improving

Questions?

Leave Feedback: https://joind.in/10141
@JustAnotherMark

10 Things I Hate About [Drupal] Code

Mark Jones@JustAnotherMark

Why did I tell you that?

Things That Annoy Me

1. Coding Standards

1. Coding Standards

1. Coding Standards

2. Commit Size

2. Commit Size

2. Commit Size

3. Bad Commenting

3. Bad Commenting

3. Bad Commenting

4. Field Collection

4. Field Collection

4. Field Collection

5. Workflow

5. Workflow

5. Workflow

6. Date

6. Date

6. Date

7. Module All The Things

7. Module All The Things

7. Module All The Things

8. Hacking Core (or Contrib)

8. Hacking Core (or Contrib)

8. Hacking Core (or Contrib)

9. Contrib

9. Contrib

9. Contrib

10. Admin Area

10. Admin Area

10. Admin Area

Code I've Written

D8 Summary

Questions?

Mark Jones
@JustAnotherMark