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Becoming a Drupal coder: a wise career move

Submitted by nk on Sun, 2010-03-14 23:46

-- Please help getting the word out by reposting this for various programmer-but-not-Drupal lists groups etc.

If you have any sort of programming affinity then becoming a Drupal coder at this point can be considered a very wise move. It will not happen overnight -- indeed it might take as long as a year but learning any new profession takes time. You can do it in your spare time, spending a 1-2 hours daily on it. If you do it right -- quite some tips to follow -- then by the time you learn the craft you will also build a presence, a network around you and scoring a job will not be hard. This is because one of the biggest assets of Drupal is its community and if you integrate yourself within the community then recognition follows. Due to the high demand for Drupal coders right now (and the foreseeable future) you will be sought after instead of having to hunt for a job.

First thing to do is to install Drupal and get acquainted with it. Freely click around, you can't break it. This mindset is very important: experiment freely, it can't hurt. (This is what some calls a hacker mentality btw.) There is a Beginner's handbook that you will find very useful. There are also dozens of books on Drupal. Paid training and local meetups can help as well. Meanwhile, you can begin going through the issue queues by being a farmer or a pirate. This helps you getting more familiar with Drupal and helps building your "karma" (community recognition).

When you begin to feel more comfortable with Drupal, you can move to the programming side. The approach wil be similar: while you learn Drupal coding, you also work the issue queue. Your resources to learn are the Learning Drupal 6 module development book, the Professional Drupal Development book and the API reference site. You will likely know more about the issue queue by now.

The development mailing list and the various IRC channels are good places to mingle with the people, socialize and learn.

Always try to think of the types of sites you'd like to build and solve those problems. This will keep you goal oriented, help you define your specific fields of interest, and will force you to solve the same types of problems that your future clients are solving. It keeps it real. And never hesitate to reach out to other Drupal community members if you're stuck or need help. We all got to where we are with the help of others, and you'll get your chance to help someone else in turn.

Commenting on this Story is closed.

Submitted by theborg@drupal.org on Wed, 2010-03-17 18:33.

It's amazing how things have changed since D6. Dozens of books, more important sites assimilated, conferences, new comunities being created everywhere and the quality and improvements of D7.

Indeed it's a sweet moment to our beloved blue drop!

Submitted by chanel (not verified) on Thu, 2010-09-16 09:27.

It sounds good! Thanks for sharing.

Submitted by moncler (not verified) on Tue, 2010-09-21 06:28.

that's right

Submitted by Газификация (not verified) on Thu, 2010-10-07 03:57.

where the abstract of this can be downloaded? Forgive me for bad English. I live in Russia.

Submitted by soundtrack (not verified) on Sun, 2010-10-17 13:36.

Durpal rulezzz!

Submitted by Mark (not verified) on Thu, 2010-10-21 11:46.

It's amazing to see so many changes over the years in the world of Drupal. I totally love it! I'm sure many men would have learnt a lot through this community website.

Submitted by John on Fri, 2010-10-29 03:20.

Today the IT industries are getting the hit of recessions, due to recession many IT industries get close to shut down their industries. In this period the Drupal Code programming have a good chance to boost up their carrer in IT world.
John - Writes about real estate license

Submitted by Johan (not verified) on Fri, 2010-10-29 04:47.

It is a very nice move for the programmers to adopt Drupal development as there career.It has a very vast future and it is the developing field of technology.It will stop the hurt for jobs by the user.This will keep you goal oriented, help you define your specific fields of interest, and will force you to solve the same types of problems that your future clients are solving.
Johan - large group team building expert

Submitted by ducnun on Fri, 2011-04-29 12:06.

It was such a honor to have the chance to join the discussion of this great blog site, while being a Drupal coder is definitely a wise move just because Drupal seems to be a free software which allows to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. it offers a lots of creative features to the users and also generates a way to learn the use of Drupal function in other module and themes, really it could provide a different move for a coder.
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