Drupal has always been a standout for its robust features. However, a significant void existed regarding JavaScript utilities for data consumption outside the CMS. While various community-supported API clients flourished, a dedicated JavaScript solution from Drupal itself was conspicuously absent.
Recognizing this imperative need, the Drupal API Client initiative has emerged—a collaborative effort led by Brian Perry and backed by dedicated contributors such as Coby Sher and Pratik Kamble. This initiative aims to consolidate the strengths of existing Drupal API clients to provide utilities addressing common use cases while catering to the diverse needs of the JavaScript ecosystem.
The journey of the Drupal API Client has gained significant traction, with a proof of concept already published to a temporary namespace on npm, @drupal-api-client. This has not only sparked interest among key contributors in the decoupled Drupal ecosystem but also signifies the potential impact of this groundbreaking initiative.
DropTimes was privileged to connect with Coby Sher and Pratik Kamble, who shared their insights into this transformative initiative. Coby, expressing his excitement about contributing to the project, highlighted the efficiency it brings to developers. Pratik, reflecting on the opportunity to give back to Drupal, emphasized the positive impact the official JavaScript library will have on simplifying data retrieval.
Coby Sher shares his excitement with The Drop Times about the initiative's potential impact:
Coby Sher
I am a contributor to the Drupal API Client. I'm excited to contribute to it because it will allow developers who may not know or need to know Drupal's JSON:API to get the data they need quickly using TypeScript or JavaScript. Another goal is to try to unify efforts in the space of Drupal JavaScript SDKs and publish under the @drupal namespace on npm, the official node package registry.
He further added,
Working with Pratik, Brian, and other contributors has been great. We cruised to the first milestone we completed last month: publishing a "vertical slice" proof of concept to a temporary namespace on npm, @drupal-api-client. Please check it out and leave feedback on the project on drupal.org and contribute!
Pratik Kamble reflects on his motivation to fill a crucial gap in Drupal's ecosystem by actively contributing to creating an officially supported JavaScript library.
Pratik Kamble
My involvement in this initiative was sparked by a simple message from a friend on Slack. There, I first learned about the project and the opportunity it presented. I had always heard discussions about Drupal's potential as a data source, with the ability for other programming languages, libraries, and frameworks to consume data from it. However, there was a gap in Drupal's ecosystem—the absence of an officially supported JavaScript library. In contrast, some other content management systems had already embraced and officially supported JavaScript libraries.
I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to give something back to Drupal. By developing an officially supported JavaScript library for Drupal. With the official library in place, JavaScript developers no longer have to navigate complex workarounds or rely on third-party solutions. They can now seamlessly connect their JavaScript applications to Drupal, allowing for smoother data retrieval and interaction. This simplification saves developers valuable time and reduces the potential for compatibility issues and errors, resulting in more stable and reliable web applications.
To comprehensively explore this initiative, The DropTimes delves deep into an exclusive interview with Brian Perry. Dive into the detailed conversation here to gain profound insights into how this project came to life and the myriad benefits it brings to the Drupal community.
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While Drupal core boasts excellent APIs for making data available to a couple of applications, it falls short in assisting JavaScript developers in consuming that data.
