What makes Drupal 9 an Apt Choice for Web Application Development?

07/17/2020

Drupal is the most popular & feature-rich content management system for web application development. It is an open-source CMS thus making a popular choice for startups & naïve developers. It is based on the PHP programming language, and this is what makes it easy to implement CMS for developers. Recently Drupal 9 is released for the users which mean new functionality can be integrated within the applications.

The Drupal development teams have put all their efforts and released the most powerful version integrated with the latest features. With release is already present, it is the perfect time to discuss what benefits it can provide to a website application. If you run your website in Drupal 7 or 8 right now, you'll have experienced some limitations. The release of Drupal 9 and the possible withdrawal of Drupal 7 and 8 is a clear indication regarding the significant shift in technology, with implications for security.

What's happening to Drupal 7 & 8?

On June 3, 2020, the first version of Drupal 9 was released. It is the latest version of the popular open-source content management system. In November 2021, Drupal 7 and 8 official supports will end. These versions won't get any additional updates, bug fixes, or patches from Drupal.org or developers. What does this mean for a website running on old versions? If you're running Drupal 7, it is important to migrate to Drupal 8, then Drupal 9, by November 2021, for the proper running of your website. If you're running on version 8, you'll need to hire Drupal developers for hassle-free migration to Drupal 9 platform. This is important & will help to achieve the desired business results in the future.

What's new is integrated in Drupal 9?

Since Drupal 9 is based on the same architecture of its predecessor, limited features are released with the version. Drupal is known for releasing new features every six months, while the new version is more focused on the code clean-up. Being a cleaned-up version it offers a couple of remarkable updates and improvements for web application development service. Some are discussed here for better understanding:

1. Built-in Backward Compatibility

Drupal 9 works on the Drupal 8 architecture and has the feature to support built-in backward compatibility to make sure Drupal 8 components can perform easily with the new version. This means, to carry out the migration work in a simple manner, it is important to keep the core, themes, and modules updated.

2. Third-party Dependencies

As per the latest trends, Drupal depends on multiple third-party elements comprising Symfony, Twig, Guzzle, and CKEditor. As we know both Symfony and Twig have received an upgrade, thus Drupal 9 is released with upgraded versions of third-party dependencies, Symfony 4/5 and Twig 2. This will ensure security and performance are not compromised.

3. New Theme Integration

On the visual stage, Drupal 9 has received a remarkable facelift. The current default theme Bartik, which was released with Drupal 7 in 2011, is replaced by Olivero a new default theme. In comparison to the earlier theme that seems outdated, the new default theme has several characteristics like simple, modern, accessible, focused, and flexible. This will be a game-changer for Drupal 9 Development services for building engaging web applications for the users.

How to Prepare for Drupal 9 Upgrades?

It hardly matters if you are moving from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 or Drupal 8 to Drupal 9, some important points need to be followed:

Don't Hesitate to Automate
Keep the Drupal Core Updated
Keep Your Modules Up-to-Date
Keep the Contributed Modules Up to Date
Detect and Fix the Deprecated Code
Check Your Custom Code
Review the Release Notes

So, these are some of the important tips that must be followed before making an upgrade. If these are followed Drupal maintenance will become smooth, simple, and robust in the future.

Wrapping Up:

Drupal 9 is released with some remarkable features and it is the perfect opportunity to make a smart move by upgrading from the old version to the newest version. This will help your business website or application to drive users in large numbers and stay competitive in the market.