Note that the first edition of this book covers Drupal 5 and thus if you (like me) want to use this book with Drupal 6 you're out of luck. Already the first example will not work as expected with Drupal 6. This wouldn't so much of a frustration if a publisher would be very clear on this. I've had the same with a book by Packt Publishing on Drupal. No clear mentioning on the version the book intends to describe. Note that I bought this book when Drupal 6.x was already around for some time.

I guess the bottom line is that when you buy any books from these guys, you'd better check for which version of the software it was written and if tha's the version you expect. If you don't; chances are that the book is outdated the moment it reaches you.

Excellent book. Well structured, with clear explanations, and no extra wording. I have been looking for a guide to understand how Drupal works and how it can be tuned and I have found what I needed in this book. Before this one I read another generalistic book about Drupal that did not manage to add any value in more than 200 pages of reading... what a difference! Congratulations. Keep up with the good work.

An example of the right way to provide documentation for community-developed software. A great resource.

This book is strictly for version 5, which they conveniently forget to mention. The current version is 6, so if you buy this book as I did, it is practically useless, as they have significantly changed the Drupal API.
It would really be nice if there was a law requiring publishers of technical books to CLEARLY state on the cover the Version number.

The book is well written and edited. The information is clear and well structured. If you want to make your own modules this book will give you a good start.

There is little or no information on CCK (Content Construction Kit) or Views which appear to be emerging technologies on Drupal. Little information on how to encorporate media into Drupal. There are no example sites or site construction strategy.

People involved building Web sites tend to wear Rorschach ink blots rather than hats -- the content of the book looks more like a hat. If you are a Web developer, not Web designer or Web editor the information contained is up your alley.

Just a little warning, don't buy this book (like I did), if you want to develop for Drupal 6.

Right off the bat I got in trouble, and even the first simple example won't work in Drupal 6..


So, I'm not complaining, but I was stupid enough to buy this just before version 6 got out, don't make the same mistake, read online-tutorials or find a book that's intended for the current version..

(Maybe hardcore programmers will still find this useful, but I could use example-code that works, and this doesn't, so you're stuck researching just about everything online anyway.)

This seems to be a decent book and certainly helpful in the basics, but I felt it was lacking all sorts of details I was looking for when designing a custom theme and two modules to go along with it. I found most of what I was looking for online and now the book basically is collecting dust.

This book is very well written, and although there are some minor quirks with various versions of Drupal, you can work around them.

Each code example is well documented and carries the concept that is being taught.

I have not finished the book, but already feel like I could code a basic Drupal module. The book is so good that I put it down half way because there was too much information going into my brain to process it all without stopping to try it.

And with the basic information in the book about how Drupal works behind the scenes, I have already been able to customize my sites better, knowing what parts do what.

Before, I couldn't even manage to do basic tasks, because I was so confused. But maybe chalk that up to a bit of think-headedness.

This helped a ton in getting my feet wet with Drupal, and has been a great reference ever since then. Well worth it.

I'd recommend this book to anyone new to Drupal who needs to 'hit the ground running' in a short time. I will continue to use it as a reference book so experienced Drupal developers may also find it useful in this way.

One thing I really appreciate is the focus on Drupal without trying to teach anything about PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS, etc., all of which you will need to understand in order to make use of what is taught here. The book is well organized with good examples.

There is a great deal of documentation available on the Drupal web site and much of it is very specific. This book provides a great high level understanding of Drupal and in a couple of days I am doing what probably would have taken many painful days of trial and error to figure out. Also by learning to do things the 'Drupal way' you will save yourself a lot of headaches and benefit much more from the vast repository of contributions that are available to extend Drupal's functionality.

Since the handbooks on drupal.org are a little light, I found this book invaluable to get started. For someone who is an mid level drupal developer, this book is not suggested.

This is my first Book about Drupal, i dont develop, i design web site and this is a more code book i will buy the book about themes in Drupal, but i will keep this book to check some sections.

This is a great book. I'm new to the world of web development and this book has helped a lot!

I wouldn't necessarily know how to compare it to other books but I can say I am very pleased with my purchase.

I am also brand spanking new to Drupal and so I went through the Drupal manual to get myself acquainted. This book served as the perfect follow up.

However, this book does assume a good base with PHP and some basic programming concepts.

This is a great book. I'm new to the world of web development and this book has helped a lot!

I wouldn't necessarily know how to compare it to other books but I can say I am very pleased with my purchase.

I am also brand spanking new to Drupal and so I went through the Drupal manual to get myself acquainted. This book served as the perfect follow up.

However, this book does assume a good base with PHP and some basic programming concepts.

Read the title carefully. If you are not a developer, a PHP programmer with solid MySQL background this is not your book. If you want to know how to extend Drupal with your own modules or contribute to the core project then get it and be happy.

This book is a good start. It is ideal for someone who wants to quickly learn Drupal Development without spending a lot of time
reading a book.

Pro: It has short chapters so you can quickly read through the book. I read every chapter.
Con: It has short chapters so it doesn't go into nearly enough detail.

I'd like a follow up book that was twice as long and went into more thorough examples.
At the end of each chapter, I felt it had just touched the tip of the iceberg. When I ventured out on my own with a more complicated
example, I felt lost about many details.

The book has self-contained examples in each chapter. That was a good approach for a short introduction to each topic. The book also does a good
job of referring you to the specific [...] node for more information.

In a follow-up book, it'd be more beneficial to develop an entire Drupal project that built upon
the previous chapter's code.

The book had much errata. If you bought the book early, this would have been quite frustrating. My printed version seemed to have the corrections. However the downloaded source code to
the book does not have all the corrections. You may have to examine the code and compare it to what is printed in the book.

The last few chapters of the book are perhaps the best. They give you best practices for writing secure code, writing code the Drupal way, and optimizing Drupal.

The book was beneficial and I'm sure I'll be using it as a reference -- until a more encyclopedic book comes along.

A "must have" for anyone trying to develop Drupal websites professionally. One more great contribution to Drupal project.

It's surprising given drupal's popularity that there aren't more books covering it in detail. Site launches and contributions by the likes of lullabot and bryght have pushed the CMS' profile and recent releases have emphasised the Web 2.0 potential, but a quick look at amazon reveals only four related titles. Of the four, Pro Drupal Development is definitely the most developer focussed.

This isn't a book for a drupal newbie. Going in you'll want to have spent at least a little time setting up a drupal site or two, and while there's no need to be a PHP guru the authors do presume you're not going to need help understanding their code samples. They focus on drupal's internals, with a lot of time spent writing modules, understanding the user, node, menu, theme and related systems, and a little attention for performance optimisation.

There's a lot of ground to cover and most chapters are short, giving just the essentials on each area. You'll probably want to pause from time to time to try out the code samples unless you're already experienced at writing drupal modules. Having written a number of modules and run into various problems I found I was able to focus on the new information and how it would have affected my approach, but if this is new ground the structure of the book may make it rather overwhelming.

The writers are keen to encourage their readers to read the book in order, and some chapters certainly do build on their predecessors, but the real strength of this is likely to be as a reference guide. A quick once-through will help newcomers to module development get a sense of how everything fits together, but chances are you'll then want to refer back when you actually encounter problems that a given chapter can help with.

I was disappointed not to see more coverage of testing drupal code. As I've noted elsewhere, the lack of attention paid to automated testing in the drupal community frustrates me and it seems that for a book like this to not to provide some coverage of sensible testing regimens is a missed opportunity. Similarly, it would be really good to have some coverage of deployment tips, particularly relating to upgrading active sites. Both of those seem to me like core topics for any book purporting to provide a guide for professionals, but the priorities of the book mirror those of the drupal community where neither topic appears to be a significant concern.

For any experienced developer who needs to get to grips with the insides of drupal and/or write custom extensions, this book will be invaluable. The style won't suit those looking for a broader scope or lengthier tutorials, but it will help you get to grips with each of the major components quickly and provide enough information to set you on your way. Hopefully it will also trigger further writing about drupal, which may cover more ground and help developers bring some other vital practices to their drupal work.

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for review by the publisher.

Excellent book. I'm brand-new to Drupal, but have been developing in .Net, Ruby, and PHP for years. I wanted to know more about Drupal because of the common need for a powerful CMS framework that I kept needing in my projects.

This book is a great intro to Drupal, even if you're not familiar at all with how the platform works. Code knowledge is of course a must (heck, it has "development" in the title), but I learned a lot even with very little pre-existing knowledge of how Drupal works. Having read it, I now feel like I have pretty solid knowledge of how Drupal works internally.

There are many titles on the market that center on Drupal but this book is for developers, those who want to go beyond the surface and take serious control of your Drupal site. Information is easily extracted and put to use as you gain a greater understanding of the concepts behind the Drupal platform.

I'm fairly new to Drupal and I have found this book to be a great help in accelerating my learning curve.

This book is a must have for any drupal developer. My copy is already dog-eared from repeated use.

This is a great book by some super knowledgeble Drupal Developers. It is not a starter book for learning Drupal. However it you prefer a steep learning curve to start with, and get moving at some deeper levels, this book is great.

I worry about the fluidity of any resource on a dynamic software project such as Drupal, but currently this book is serving me wonderfully.

Very good book for developers. Cleared alot of unknowns for our team. A must-have book for anyone seriously into Drupal development. Looking forward for new editions that wuld over more contrib modules such as Views, Imagecache, and the like.

Great book for newbies and professional developers! It gave me a pretty good jump start in Drupal development. Covers pretty much everything you need to know about the platform. Easy to read, has charts and useful examples. IMHO if you're seriously thinking to use Drupal for your next project - you have to buy this book.

As a Drupal developer it was a no brainer to purchase "Pro Drupal Development" by J. VanDyk and M. Westgate. I devour anything Drupal and this promised to be the first book on Drupal for developers. But I was not prepared to make a permanent space for it in my bag. I am often on the go, meeting clients and other programmers in the local coffee shops. Since receiving my copy four months ago I have not been more than a few feet from it at all times. I was not finished the second chapter, "Writing a module", before it sent me back to my computer to try all the new things I had learned through its great examples.

My favorite chapter is chapter 8 "The Theme System". This chapter walks you through converting an html/css design into a full functioning Drupal theme. It was simply explained and I was able to convert a design in just a few hours. I consider that pretty good for my first try. Check it out for yourself, Apress the publisher is offering chapter 8 as a teaser (http://www.apress.com/book/downloadfile/3519).

This book is not for the beginner. It jumps right into the meat of the matter but thats what I appreciate most. A solid reference for the advanced Drupal developer.

When my computer is not on, it sets quietly in my bag snuggled up against my copy of "Pro Drupal Development". If only my computer could digest the book and do some programming for me then I could get back to all those video games that need my attention.

It doesn't matter if you are an absolute beginner or someone who discusses if the iframe should or should not be included in the HTML 5 draft - this book can get you where you are going. Some basic knowledge is certainly a plus... but chances are if you are looking into Drupal development you know how to use the internet and a search engine to find the answers you need if something is unknown to you. If you are looking for more than "how to install" and looking for a deeper experience to customize your Content Management System... this book is one that I would start with.

A very useful book if you work with Drupal and needs some solid information about it.

A very good book on Drupal development. This book covers every aspect of Drupal development. First, you are introduced to the components of a Drupal system, components such as nodes, blocks, menus, templates and modules are covered.

What really sets Drupal apart from many other web applications is its modularity. I've used other forum/wiki/blog systems in the past. These allowed me to modify them, however as soon as a new version comes out, you have to tediously go back and modify all your code. With Drupal you implement a module. If done correctly, you simply copy over the newest files from the latest Drupal update and your site is fine. It makes it very easy to stay up to date. The book does a very good job of explaining how to work within this framework and not require extensive modification.

If you are considering using the Drupal CMS, this book is the way to go.

Very good coverage of the platform architecture and drupal api with examples. It's a must read for Drupal developers.

This is a great book for beginners and experts on using the Drupal platform for web development.

Pro Drupal Development is an easy read for a computer book and the sections that deal with code are clear, concise and relevant. The authors do a fantastic job explaining how Drupal works and their use of diagrams, flowcharts and code samples really helps a great deal.

This book is an excellent walk through for learning to create modules and themes. It's great to work the examples as you read to get a solid grasp of the material.

If you do not know PHP or CSS, that is fine, just be prepared to learn it if you want to get the most out of this book. ;)

Loved the detail of this book. I know enough to be dangerous and this book made it easy to walk through steps to become a lot better drupal developer. I still havent gone through all the chapters in this book. This book is one that allowed me to jump around through it and go where I needed to get work done on individual topics.

Pro Drupal Development is a very good book that gives a lot of insights on how to do things with drupal - not as a portal administrator or webmaster but as a module/theme developer who wishes to customize his/her drupal website to his/her own needs. Reading it you will find a lot of examples and how to for small tasks but also about writing some big module or complex theme; more: it gives various tips on where to find more detailed informations where, for reasons of space, it gives only small (but complete and working!) examples.
I did find it very useful because I'm implementing some CMS based on drupal for my own and for some customers - before reading this book I was not so sure on what can and what cannot be done, and how: this book gave me a good insight and now I'm more sure about how to implement something really useful.

This book is an excellent resource for those who already know (some) PHP/MySQL and want to learn Drupal development (as opposed to "Drupal configuration"). It includes a number of helpful charts and diagrams, including a database scheme reference in the back.

If you know some SQL, some PHP, some knowledge of how a LAMP stack works, and you want to understand how Drupal was designed to fit into this frame, then this book is right for you.

My thanks to the authors.

Anyone who uses Drupal and knows a little bit of PHP will find this book very handy. The book's structure is well-organized and provides us a broader view of the inner workings of Drupal so customization is now as easy as 1-2-3 ...atleast for someone who knows some programming. So non-techbrains watch out, this book is not intended for you.

John VanDyk and Matt Westgate do a great job in giving all of us a heads up when it comes to Drupal.

What is a Module? How does it integrate into Drupal (oh, that is called a "hook"). How do menu's work? How do I access a Drupal db? What are nodes? How can I create my own forms? Dude, I can create my own install scripts for Drupal!

Their examples are consistent (meaning that they start with one example concept and carry it through, using the information that you learned in a previous chapter and building on it) without falling into the dreaded "project" learning approach.

Instead, you learn about functionality using consistent examples in an organic (feel free to skip around) way.

Another boon is the fact that the authors explain the same thing in different chapters. For example, the first chapter starts you off with building a simple module. Then, in review, latter chapters use the same example to point out the nuts and bolts of existing functionality while adding pieces of functionality to it. Very smart in terms of learning: repetition and reinforcement.

The only con to this book is that there should be more!

I am a fan of Apress books in general, and this superb primer is no exception. VanDyk and Westgate have provided the Drupal community with exactly the book we needed: a concise but thorough explication of how Drupal works, oriented towards the working developer.

Drupal's online documentation is vast but sometimes difficult to navigate. Pro Drupal Development explains the system from the ground up, starting with a system overview and then working logically through key components. Users, nodes, blocks, theming, the Form API, custom modules, sessions, jQuery, best coding practices -- it's all here, with the concepts explained in clear language using relevant code examples.

Security tips and warnings about common mistakes will save time and developer angst. The many reference links guided me to several sections of the online documentation I hadn't found. And there's a lot for the team player in this book, too: tips on how to customize themes to make your designers' lives easier, for example.

The book explains but doesn't belabor. The jQuery chapter, for example, is short and sweet, giving you a taste of what's possible and then pointing you to the online documentation. These guys know what you need know if you're going to be an effective and efficient Drupal developer; the result is a lean text that gets you up and running quickly.

You could learn most, if not all, of what Pro Drupal Development presents by going to the online documentation, but it would take a whole lot longer and not be nearly as pleasant to learn. My copy is already well-thumbed, and is proving to be a useful daily reference in addition to a good, readable primer.

Highly recommended for anyone involved with or interested in Drupal, and a reference shelf essential for working Drupal developers.

I consider this book mandatory reading for anyone serious about drupal development. I am in charge of training staff, and will be using this book as both a training manual and a reference book. Well done!

Need to dig into the innerds of Drupal to make that drupal site look unique? This is the guide for you. With a detailed, developer oriented overview of the Drupal technology platform, its the jumping off point you need to start doing deep customization on drupal.

Note that this book is really only for serious PHP developers. If you just want to create a drupal website and don't need to bend Drupal to your will, get a different book.

for anyone that wants to know "a bit" more about drupal, development, themes and modules from a coders point of view, a must have!

well wriiten, clear code and great diagrams.

This book is by far the best book available for Drupal. I have been using it on developing [...] and it has been extremely helpful in the process!

The book covers some of the major aspects of Drupal such as theming, modules, javascript and lots of other cool stuff. The book is written in a way where you can easily check out common functions or tasks that are performed with Drupal.

Drupal Pro Development is a good read straight through and as a reference. After reading the book through, I have kept it at arms reach to look up specific topics as needed. I love this book for the details and clear explanations. Each chapter is clearly broken down into logical units.

Although most everything in this book can be found at [...] or by looking at source code, it simplifies the process of learning Drupal development.

This is just thing thing I needed to move to the next level as a Drupal developer.

The book appears to have a wealth of detailed info for the advanced Drupal user who wants to create or modify modules. But it appears to apply only to Drupal 5. I say "appears" because I could not find any obvious statement about this in the book. (Though I have not read it thoroughly yet.) This seems like a really serious flaw in the book, since there are significant differences between Drupal 4 and Drupal 5, and both are currently in use.

My cynical side can't help but speculate: are the publishers afraid if they mention Drupal 5, then book sales will dry up when Drupal 6 comes out?

Because of this fault, and the fact that I have not read it all, it's difficult to say how many stars to give this book.

I have started moving an application from a VERY old version of Zope and the docs and articles on the Drupal website, although helpful were often hard to find, difficult to figure out what version the articles referred to, etc. I had preordered this book and have found the information much easier to use when it is all together in a nice logical order. I've already come up with several ideas for enhancing what I have already done from the information in this book. It is great for those of use trying to develop modules since it doesn't have all that "how to install this and that, etc., etc." which is information pretty easy to come by but instead has the technical information that is really useful!

Great information for PHP developers who are new to Drupal. This is the book to get when you've decided you need to write your own module (or fix someone else's contributed module...) but can't quite get enough information in one place to figure out how to get started. It mostly covers module development, but there's good information on theming, too, including a basic step-by-step on converting an existing HTML/CSS layout to a Drupal theme.

If you are looking for a "this is how up install and run Drupal, these are the modules that are available" look elsewhere (the Drupal site, for instance) - this book is about writing Drupal modules how Drupal works internally.

But, if you are an aspiring Drupal module writer or just want to better understand how Drupal works internally or want to be able to tinker with existing modules you CANNOT go wrong with this book. It is very detailed, is incredibly well laid out and written. The examples are spot on. Very easy to understand and teaches you an incredible amount. I'm reading it cover to cover. I am about half way through and I couldn't be happier. It has answered pretty much every question I had about developing Drupal modules and extending existing functionality. I found some of the tutorials on the Drupal web site lacking in detail, this book IS the detail I was looking for. It covers Drupal 5.0.

Ok lets face it, it is no accident that you're here. You want to understand Drupal...truly understand Drupal. If you're like me, you're probably tired of searching through endless posts on Drupal forums to understand the true meaning of obscure terms such as 'hooks' and seemingly abstract APIs. Well, you've come to the right place. I received this book in the mail today and i haven't put it down in the last 4 hours. This is what the Drupal community has been waiting for. This book is a groundbreaking effort and the clouds will finally begin to part! It will equip you with the tools you need to take your Drupal programming to the next level. kudos to Matt and John for all their efforts.

This book is amazing. I received it today and i haven't put it down in the last 4 hours. This is what the Drupal community has been waiting for. If you are serious about Drupal from understanding the architecture to creating modules, look no further than this book. kudos to Matt and John for all their efforts.