Click here to watch Markup Ain't Easy or: How I Learned to love An Object-Oriented RenderAPI

It's no secret that since the release of Drupal 7 the way that we present markup (a little thing we call the Drupal theme layer) has undergone sweeping and revolutionary changes. Twig! And there was much rejoicing, ringing out from every street corner of the globe, celebrating a long, treacherous, journey filled with chasms of despair and despicable Arrays Of Doom.

But as all great sagas continue Through the Ages, this saga is no exception.

Along the way, it occurred to us that there are even deeper problems that plague us than simply templates, syntax, and theme functions. For all the benefits we'll see in the release of Drupal 8, we still cling to an array-based RenderAPI. Many of the new ideas and features we wish to implement invoke #yet #another #misunderstood #property in an already kludgy pile of #misunderstood #properties. It is my belief an array-based RenderAPI in its very nature is our biggest barrier to making improvements to the Drupal theme layer. We must move toward an Object-Oriented design.

Luckily I have been hiding in a cave for most of 2013, doing yoga and scheming about new design ideas. Some of these I presented at Drupalcon Prague. Enlightment is a ways off, but I think we're getting closer.

Join me for a demo and let's talk about potential benefits and potential drawbacks of what I'm proposing. Namaste!