React and Drupal can be used together to create amazing digital experiences. Knowing where to start and how to leverage the strengths of both can be challenging though. This page is a collection of the best articles, videos, and presentations we've found on the topic.
API-first, or “decoupled”, architecture is quickly becoming the most popular way to create world class digital experiences. The pattern gives developers the flexibility to rapidly innovate, while ensuring future-proof builds that don’t require re-creating the entire CMS for new features. API-first architectures started to become mainstream with the publication of NPR’s Create Once, Publish Everywhere (COPE) series of articles. Many other organizations including Netflix have seen great benefits from a decoupled approach.
Sound good? React, a library for creating beautiful user experiences, and Drupal, an API-first content management system, make a great match. Experiences that users love, created using declarative, component based, and flexible JavaScript that front-end developers love to write. And a powerful, API-first CMS with endless flexibility to define robust content workflows and create joyful editorial experiences that allows your back-end developers to focus on improving your business and not reinventing the wheel.
We come across a lot of great articles on creating breakthrough experiences with React and Drupal. This page is a continuously updated list of our favorite articles that help explain how to get started with both, and then how to combine their powers to create something truly amazing. Have fun!
Learn everything you need to know to get started using React on the front-end and Drupal on the backend with this collection of 15 hands-on tutorials.
Learn React & DrupalGatsby is a blazing fast React application generator that integrates well with Drupal. It's a great way to learn React & GraphQL while working with real world data.
Learn Gatsby & DrupalReact is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
Started in 2013, React has quickly grown in popularity due to its declarative style and lack of assumptions about your technology stack. In the last few years, a large ecosystem has grown around React. This includes high quality libraries, conferences, and increased demand for developers with React skills.
Start here: An Introduction to React for Drupal Developers
Drupal is an open-source content management system with a robust suite of tools for modeling data, implementing editorial workflows, and coding custom application logic. There is also excellent support for JSON API or GraphQL web services, making it a good choice as the backend for your React application.
Start here: An Introduction to Drupal for React Developers
Whether you’re enhancing a few of the elements on an existing page, or creating a fully decoupled single-page app (SPA), React and Drupal work great together.