[development] Drupal as an API: where the value is ...

[Jeff Eaton]

On Mar 27, 2008, at 11:56 AM, Chris Johnson wrote:

> I think I'm in agreement with Khalid.  I'd prefer to see Views and
> CCK, and the like, live outside of core.  Instead, core should evolve
> to support and enable most anything the Views and CCK developers might
> dream up if it looks extensible to other ideas and modules, but not
> actual provide the functionality.

The problem comes when certain concepts and tools have become so  
integral to the operation of most Drupal sites that they are,  
effectively, part of core. Internationalization is important, for  
example, but how many sites are internationalized vs. using Views?

Obviously, "lots of people use it, it should be in core" isn't a good  
approach to take. But key concepts, like the use of metadata-driven  
content listings and "fields" as the basic unit of information storage  
for content, sometimes need to make it into core for the rest of the  
community to continue evolving.

--Jeff