DrupalCon Austin 2014: BUILD A DRUPAL-FREE THEME WITH 8'S REST API AND JAVASCRIPT

This talk explores the future of the Drupal theme layer, focusing on the potential of using RESTful Web Services and external JavaScript frameworks, rather than relying on the sometimes bloated core theming system. The speaker discusses how REST, integrated into Drupal 8, facilitates easy data manipulation through POST, PUT, DELETE, and GET requests, highlighting Drupal's entity-based structure. In this session, a basic introduction to REST and Angular.JS is provided, followed by a demonstration of developing a simple Drupal theme using these technologies, while utilizing Drupal 8 core modules to expose APIs. The session also identifies the benefits of this approach, as well as the challenges that remain in establishing it as a viable alternative to traditional Drupal theming methods.