In Pro Drupal Development, we cover Drupal from the perspective of some- one knowledgeable in PHP who is looking for a way to quickly understand the system and to begin coding sophisticated Drupal applications as soon as possible. For that reason, we use an approach that is peppered with practi- cal coding examples, big-picture flowcharts, and diagrams to help the reader visualize how Drupal works. And we've included a chapter on best practices for Drupal development to help readers avoid common pitfalls.
We have each been using Drupal for four years and have contributed to the Drupal core as well as to numerous modules. Though Drupal was designed to be lean and modular, during this time we've observed new developers strug- gling to understand Drupal's internals. We wrote this book to help make the learning curve less daunting and to encourage talented developers to learn, use, and ultimately share in the benefits of one of the most vibrant and growing open source communities.