DrupalCon Austin 2014: BUILD A DRUPAL-FREE THEME WITH 8'S REST API AND JAVASCRIPT
Channel: Drupal Association
Date: 2014-06-04

Speakers: rcaracaus
Could the future of the Drupal theme layer be using RESTful Web Services and external Javascript frameworks instead of a sometimes bloated core theming system?

REST has made its way into core in Drupal 8 and it is now easier than ever to POST, PUT, DELETE, and simply GET data from Drupal. Pretty much everything in Drupal 8 is an entity and thus follows a similar exportable format. With Javascript, data from REST API's can be manipulated into clean and flexible templates free from the divitis that Morten talks about. Using this approach also draws a bolder line between the display layer and business logic, allowing Drupal to focus on being CMS, not a DMS (Display Management System).

This session will give a basic introduction to REST and Angular.JS then walk through the still experimental steps of creating the tenants of a basic Drupal theme using these technologies. This will include using Drupal 8 core modules to expose API's and the basic usage of Angular.JS and a few of its plugins to work with and massage data into a basic Drupal theme structure on an external site.

We will look at some of the quick wins this way of theming gives us but also examine some of the things that still need to be done to make this process a worthy contender to the existing Drupal theming methodology.

*This session will include recorded screencasts to avoid the common mishaps of live coding.