Drupal architecture

Submitted by Dmitro on

Drupal's architecture is built on a modular framework that provides flexibility and extensibility. Key components of the Drupal architecture include:

  1. Core: The core of Drupal provides essential functionality such as user management, content creation, and system configuration. It includes several modules, themes, and libraries.
  2. Modules: Modules are extensions that add or modify functionality. There are core modules provided with Drupal, and contributed modules created by the community. Custom modules can also be developed to meet specific needs.
  3. Themes: Themes control the presentation layer of a Drupal site. They define the layout, design, and overall appearance. Drupal uses the Twig templating engine for themes.
  4. Entities and Fields: Entities are data models (like nodes, users, and taxonomy terms) that store data. Fields are used to attach additional pieces of data to entities (like text, images, and dates).
  5. Routing and Controllers: Drupal uses Symfony's routing component to map URLs to controllers. Controllers are responsible for handling requests and returning responses.
  6. Services and Dependency Injection: Drupal follows the service-oriented architecture (SOA) where reusable services are defined and injected where needed. This is facilitated by Symfony's dependency injection container.
  7. Configuration Management: Drupal's configuration management system allows you to export configurations to files, which can then be version-controlled and imported into different environments.
  8. Database Abstraction Layer: Drupal includes a database abstraction layer that supports multiple database engines. It allows for the execution of database queries in a consistent manner.
  9. Plugins: Plugins are a design pattern in Drupal that allows for reusable and interchangeable pieces of functionality. They are used extensively in areas such as blocks, field types, and views.
  10. Events and Hooks: Hooks are functions that allow modules to interact with the core and other modules. Events, introduced with Symfony, provide a modern way to respond to various actions in the system.