Talk at Drupal Meetup Stuttgart, 02/04/2016

1. Composer & Drupal
Drupal Meetup Stuttgart
04.02.2016

2. Composer is a...
● Dependency Manager for PHP projects
-> Requirements like frameworks or libraries
● Package Manager for PHP packages
-> Globally installed tools, like Drush or Console
http://getcomposer.org

3. Why should we care?
● Avoiding dependency hell
● Getting off the island
● Don’t reinvent the wheel
● Proudly invented / found elsewhere (PIE)
● Everyone does it
● ~85.000 packages for PHP projects using Composer (2/2016)

4. Basic components
composer.json
-> Specifies requirements, sources and configuration
composer.lock
-> Lists installed dependencies with current versions
vendor folder
-> Dependencies (packages) will be installed here
Autoloader
-> Makes dependencies available to your project

5. PHP package repository: http://packagist.org

6. What’s a package?
Package =>
● Script
● Library
● Framework
identified by
"vendor/package name", e.g. "fabpot/php-cs-fixer"

7. Example
composer require andrioli/hello-composer:"@dev" php:">=5.3.0"
composer.json:
{
"require": {
"andrioli/hello-composer": "@dev",
"php": ">=5.3.0"
}
}
index.php:
<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
print HelloWorldSay::hello();
Composer defaults to stable
versions, here we require dev
versions, too!

8. Requirement: Semantic versioning
3.6.18
[major].[minor].[patch]
[Breaking].[Feature].[Bugfix]
http://semver.org

9. Specify required versions
[vendor/package]:[version][@[dev|alpha|beta|RC|stable]
Composer supported version constraints:
Exact: 7.1.0 -> Exact version
Comparison: >=1.2
Range: 1.2 - 1.3
Wildcard: 7.1.*
Tilde: ~7.1.3 -> Next significant release, >= 7.1.3, < 7.2
Carét: ^7.1.0 -> Next major release, >= 7.1.0, < 8.0.0

10. One thing to consider
“just edit your composer.json and add…”
[SeldJsonLintParsingException]
"./composer.json" does not contain valid JSON
Warning: The lock file is not up to date with the latest changes
in composer.json. You may be getting outdated dependencies. Run
update to update them.
=> Use composer commands!

11. Start a new PHP project: composer init
1. Create your index.php: touch index.php
2. Create composer.json: composer init -n
3. Add requirements/dependencies
4. Add the autoloader to your index.php:
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

12. Specify requirements: composer require
composer require [ vendor/package ] [ vendor/package ] ...
composer require guzzlehttp/guzzle
composer require phpunit/phpunit --dev
Adds / updates dependencies in composer.json & composer.lock
Package only needed for development? Use --dev !

13. Install requirements: composer install
composer install
composer install --no-dev
Installs exact versions specified in composer.lock
For production environments, use --no-dev !

14. Update requirements: composer update
composer update
composer update [ vendor/package ] [ vendor/package ] ...
Installs the latest version of the specified packages
meeting the requirements in composer.json
Updates composer.lock accordingly

15. Remove requirements: composer remove
composer remove [ vendor/package ] [ vendor/package ] ...
Removes the specified package(s)
Removes requirements from composer.json
Updates composer.lock accordingly

16. More Composer goodies
● Installs from packagist, various vcs (git, svn, …), pear, zip and more
● Applies patches, if needed
● Supports scripts, e.g. "post-package-install"
● Supports plugins (functional extensions)
Some useful plugins:
composer/installers -> Scaffolding, type-dependent install folders
wikimedia/composer-merge-plugin -> merge multiple composer.json files
fxp/composer-asset-plugin -> manage NPM- / Bower packages (CSS/JS)

17. Using composer in Drupal projects
Some pitfalls here:
● Semantic versioning: 7.x-3.5, 8.x-4.0 ?
● Different types of packages (modules, themes, libraries)
● Different target folders, not just /vendor
● Dependencies in .info files
● Incompatible project metadata / vcs drupal.org <-> packagist.org
Solutions:
● Specialized package repository, packagist.drupal-composer.org
● Use project templates / skeletons!

18. Create a new Drupal project using a template
composer create-project drupal-composer/drupal-project:8.x-dev
myproject --stability dev --no-interaction
composer create-project drupal-composer/drupal-project:7.x-dev
myproject -s dev -n
https://github.com/drupal-composer/drupal-project
(just a starting point)
This means the dev version of the
template, not of Drupal!

19. It’s not Drupal, it’s best practice!
composer create-project symfony/framework-standard-edition
composer create-project yiisoft/yii2-app-basic
composer create-project laravel/laravel
…
Use it for scaffolding, profiles, install scripts, configuration, ...

20. Managing Drupal Module & Themes
composer require drupal/devel drupal/views
composer update drupal/linkit
composer remove drupal/webform
…
Composer takes care of dependencies, so e.g.
drupal/views includes drupal/ctools (D7)!

21. What about custom modules?
{
"name": "drubb/myownmodule”,
"description": "Just a little custom module.",
"type": "drubb-custom",
"homepage": "https://github.com/drubb/myownmodule/"
"require": {
"drupal/views": ">=7.3.1"
},
}
Optionally (if not using packagist), use composer-merge plugin to merge
your custom composer.json with the main composer.json of your project !
Remember composer-installers?

22. But I use Drush / Console / Bash already?
Great! Keep on using them!
Additionally use them in your Composer scripts!
"post-update-cmd": [
"drush updb",
"drush cc all",
"echo Updates completed!"
],

23. UI wanted ? Composer Manager Module!

24. Drush Wrapper: Composer Module!
drush composer require
drush composer install
drush composer update
…
https://drupal.org/project/composer

25. GIT Workflow
Development
git pull
composer install
composer require / update
git push
Add composer.json / composer.lock !
Exclude dependencies (/vendor) !
Default for upcoming Drupal 8.1 !
Production
git pull / checkout
composer install

26. Read on
Official Composer Documentation
https://getcomposer.org/doc
Composer the Right Way
http://www.slideshare.net/rdohms/composer-the-right-way-phpjhb15
Composer Cheat Sheet for Developers
http://composer.json.jolicode.com
Drupal Composer community initiative
http://drupal-composer.org
Slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/drubb