Everyone—individuals and teams both small and large can benefit from a workflow centered around reusable code and repeatable deployment.

If you

• deploy site changes with database dumps
• keep Drupal core and/or contributed modules in your repository
• lack a means to test multiple site features in isolation from each other
• struggle with coordinating site changes in a team setting
• struggle with implementing a workflow around local development, staging, and live environments
• perform the same tasks and install the same modules over and over for each new project

Then you might want to consider some tools and practices that ease the pain of large scale Drupal development.

I will introduce you to small changes you can make immediately to your existing development workflow that will help you produce maintainable sites and increase your velocity on future projects. I’ll cover the tools and effective techniques to improve development and deployment. Finally, we’ll look at an idea and philosophy that has revolutionized the way shops are developing with Drupal—a workflow that sets the stage for continuous integration, automated testing, and automated deployment.

Prerequisites

I will assume basic familiarity with Drush and version control. While I will be showing some basic techniques suitable for a beginner, this workflow is primarily geared for the developer who knows PHP, can write a custom module, and is comfortable with the Drupal API.

Topics covered

• Drush make, features, and git
• Reusable sites
• Keeping your sites and repositories lean
• How to structure your repository for collaborative development
• Powerful git workflow and shortcuts
• Every site a distribution
• Strategies for dev/stage/prod
• New horizions: continuous integration, testing, and automation