Decoupled, Headless, API-First Drupal?

Not even three months into 2017, and already two industry articles have appeared that claim that this is "the Year of Decoupled."

If so, this is propitious development for Drupal, and the Acquia Developer Center. Because we've been publishing "decoupled"-related (AKA "headless," AKA "API-First") thinking for a while now.

Wouldn't it make sense to start organizing it into one stream? That's what we thought.

So here's our first installment of a blog series that will point to some of the best thinking on decoupled in general, and decoupled Drupal in particular.

We're starting with a short blog series by Preston So, Development Manager, Acquia Labs: Decoupled Drupal and Ember.

Although Preston mentions at the outset that there are trade-offs that come with decoupling, he addresses these two posts to developers who have determined that decoupling Drupal entirely is the appropriate course of action for their needs.

In this case, Preston recommends Ember as a prime candidate to underpin Drupal-backed JavaScript applications, primarily due to its reach, its coverage, and its ease of use. It also has an open-source ethos and a welcoming community. His two-part series is intended to help readers attain escape velocity quickly, by exploring the inner workings of Ember, foundational concepts of Ember's ecosystem, how to decouple Drupal with an Ember front end, and what the future could bring in terms of more Ember within Drupal. By the end of the series he's assembled a simple Drupal content browser powered by Ember.

You can access both posts here: Decoupled Drupal and Ember.

Or check 'em out one at a time:

• Decoupled Drupal with Ember: Introducing Ember and JSON API
• Decoupled Drupal with JSON API and Ember: Consuming Drupal with Ember Adapters and Models

Also, on the decoupled tip: Check out the brand new ebook from Acquia: API-First Drupal: On the Road to Publish Once, Access Everywhere. It's a solid intro, with four different case studies illustrating different use cases. A great overview, and a valuable asset to circulate to non-technical colleagues.