Never Write A Line Of Code Again!

Okay, so I lied. But module builder can save you a lot of time when writing custom modules.

And it now works with drush, too. I added support for drush a few weeks ago, which let you do things like "$ drush mb mymodule cron init menu nodeapi --write" and hey presto, a new module folder is created, with an info file and a module file, with hook implementations ready to do your (evil) bidding. (Note: this blog does not sanction use of Drupal, module builder, or drush for evil.)

If you're super lazy you can even say "$ drush mb mymodule cron init menu nodeapi --go", using the wash 'n' go option which writes all the files and enables the new module for you. But don't do this if you're writing an install or enable hook, as they won't have any code in them!

The downside was that you needed to install module builder into each Drupal installation you wanted to generate modules for. Bit of a pain if you're developing a few sites and have a few more test sites kicking around.

But no more! You can now stick the module builder folder wherever drush can find it, and build modules in any Drupal 6 installation. You can download hook data to that installation with "$drush mbdl", or store it in a central location by specifying the --data option.

You might say at this point, core hooks are all very good, but what about hooks for CCK, Views, Ubercart, and so on? Well, like all good modules, module builder comes with a hook. Implement hook_module_builder_info, tell it where you hook documentation can be found on the interwebs, and add your module's distinctiveness to module builder's sugary goodness.

And how might you do this?

With module builder, of course!