The document discusses upcoming changes in Craft 3 and its plugin development, focusing on the improvements brought by Yii 2, which now requires PHP 5.4 and includes new features such as namespaces and closures. Key updates also include the transition from Craft 2 to Craft 3, emphasizing changes in routes, controllers, models, and the simplification of plugins into modules. Additionally, it highlights modifications to how assets and elements are handled, alongside guidelines for migrating plugins to the new framework.

1. THE FUTURE
OF PLUGIN DEV
Brandon Kelly

2. Craft 3 Dev Preview
coming in May

3. Powered by Yii 2

4. Totally refactored

5. Faster

6. Requests/second
(bigger is better)
EE Joomla Drupal 7 Craft 2 Craft 3
17.52
9.79
9.05
4.784.17

7. Response Times
(in milliseconds - smaller is better)
EE Joomla Drupal 7 Craft 2 Craft 3
57
102110
209
240

8. buildwithcraft.com/3

9. What has changed for
Craft has also changed
for plugins

10. • What’s changed in PHP
• What’s changed in Yii
• What’s changed in Craft
• Port a plugin
Game plan

11. PHP

12. Yii 2 and Craft 3 both
require PHP 5.4
(Yii 1 required 5.1; Craft 2 required 5.3)

13. • JSON extension
• ZIP extension
• Upload progress-tracking hooks
• DateTime/DateTimeZone
PHP 5.2 features

14. • Namespaces
• Late static bindings
• Closures
PHP 5.3 features

15. Namespaces
namespace craftpluginsfoo;
class Plugin {
public function getClassName() {
return get_class($this);
}
}
$plugin = new Plugin();
echo $plugin->getClassName();
// => "craftpluginsfooPlugin"

16. Late static bindings
class Object {
public static function className() {
return get_called_class();
}
}
class Foo extends Object {
}
echo Foo::className();
// => "Foo"

17. Closures
$obj->on('thing', function($event) {
// ...
});

18. • Traits
• Short array syntax
• Function array dereferencing
• Class member access on
instantiation
PHP 5.4 Features

19. Traits
trait FooTrait {
public $bar = 'bar';
}
class Foo {
use FooTrait;
}
$foo = new Foo();
echo $foo->bar;
// => "bar"

20. Short array syntax
$myIndexedArray = [
'key1' => 1,
'key2' => 2
];
$myBoringArray = [1, 2, 3];

21. Function array dereferencing
function foo() {
return ['one', 'two', 'three'];
}
echo foo()[0];
// => "one"

22. Class member access on instantiation
class Foo {
public function bar() {
// ...
}
}
(new Foo())
->bar();

23. Yii

24. Class Names
and Namespaces

25. • No more “C” class name prefix
• Namespaces resemble the folder
structure (PSR-4)
• No more Yii::import()
• Path aliases define the root
namespaces for the autoloader
Class name/namespace changes

26. Path alias example
Yii::setAlias('@foo', '/path/to/foo');
echo Yii::getAlias('@foo/subpath');
// => "/path/to/foo/subpath"

27. Important path aliases to be aware of
Path Alias Server Path Root Namespace
@yii …/app/vendor/yiisoft/yii2 yii
@craft/app …/app craftapp
@craft/plugins/foo …/plugins/foo craftpluginsfoo

28. Objects and Components

29. • Base class for everything
• Property getters/setters
• Event handling
• Behaviors
CComponent in Yii 1

30. • yiibaseObject
• yiibaseComponent
Split into two classes in Yii 2

31. • The new base class for
everything
• Only does property
getters/setters
Object

32. • Extends Object
• Event handling
• Behaviors
Component

33. • Extend Object for classes that
don’t do anything besides
represent data (glorified arrays)
• Extend Component for
everything else
When to use which?

34. • yiibaseEvent
• yiidbTableSchema
• yiimailBaseMessage
• yiiwebCookieCollection
• yiiwebUrlRule
Object examples

35. • yiibaseModel
• yiidbConnection
• yiii18nI18N
• yiimailBaseMailer
• yiiwebRequest
Component examples

36. Objects are configurable

37. • Define object config settings as
public properties
• Pass configuration arrays into the
object constructor
Configuring objects

38. Object configuration examples
class User extends Object {
public $age;
}
$user = new User(['age' => 21]);

39. Object configuration examples
class User extends Object {
public function setAge($age) {
// ...
}
public function getAge() {
// ...
}
}
$user = new User(['age' => 21]);

40. Object configuration examples
$user = Yii::createObject('fooUser');
$user = Yii::createObject([
'class' => 'fooUser',
'age' => 21
]);

41. Service Locators

42. • Base: yiidiServiceLocator
• They have sub-components
• Components accessed via magic
getters and get()
• Subcomponents are created the
first time they’re requested
Service locators

43. Modules

44. • Base: yiibaseModule
• They are service locators, so they
have sub-components
• They also have controllers, views,
and sub-modules
Modules

45. Applications

46. • Base: yiibaseApplication
• They are modules
• They handle the request
• Only one application per request
Applications

47. • Web requests:
yiiwebApplication
• Console requests:
yiiconsoleApplication
Two application classes

48. Controllers

49. • Web and console applications
have controllers (no more
“console command” classes)
• Controller action routing works
the same either way
• They return the response
Controllers

50. Request vs. Response

51. • Request classes define the incoming
web/console request
• Response classes define the outgoing
web/console response
• The response is automatically sent at
the end of the application processing
Request vs. response

52. • Describes the HTTP request
• Method (GET, POST, etc.)
• Ajax/Pjax/Flash?
• Headers, body, parameters
• Acceptable content types/languages
• HTTP authentication
• URL, host name, URI, port, SSL
• Referrer, user agent, client IP
yiiwebRequest

53. • Describes the console command
• Requested route
• Requested parameters
yiiconsoleRequest

54. • Defines the HTTP response
• Status code (200, 404, etc.)
• Headers
• Cookies
• Body
yiiwebResponse

55. • HTML
• XML
• JSON
• JSONP
Web response formats

56. Formatted response examples
$response = Yii::$app->getResponse();
$response->data = $user;
$response->format = 'json';
$response->send();
{
"id": 5,
"username": "admin",
"age": 21
}

57. Formatted response examples
$response = Yii::$app->getResponse();
$response->data = $user;
$response->format = 'xml';
$response->send();
<response>
<id>5</id>
<username>admin</username>
<age>21</age>
</response>

58. Events

59. • Defined by “onEventName()”
methods on component classes
• Attached by setting a magic
“onEventName” property
• Raised by calling raiseEvent()
within the event method
Events in Yii 1

60. Yii 1 event example
class User extends CComponent {
public function wake() {
$this->onWake(new CEvent());
}
public function onWake($ev) {
$this->raiseEvent('onWake', $ev);
}
}
$user = new User();
$user->onWake = function($ev){/*...*/};

61. • Not explicitly predefined
• Attached by calling on()
• Raised by calling trigger()
Events in Yii 2

62. Yii 2 event example
class User extends Component {
public function wake() {
$this->trigger('afterWake');
}
}
$user = new User();
$user->on('afterWake', function($ev){
// ...
});

63. Class-level Event Handlers

64. Class-level event handler example
Event::on('fooUser', 'afterWake',
function($ev) {
// ...
}
);

65. Asset Bundles

66. • For JS and CSS resources
• They can have dependencies
• They can publish their files into
the web root when registered
• They can compile LESS, Sass,
Stylus, and CoffeeScript
Asset bundles

67. Defining an asset bundle
class AppAsset extends AssetBundle
{
public $sourcePath = '@app/assets';
public $basePath = '@web/assets';
public $depends = [
'yiiwebJqueryAsset'
];
public $css = [
'css/app.scss'
];
}

68. Registering an asset bundle
Yii::$app->view->registerAssetBundle(
'fooAppAsset'
);

69. DB Queries

70. • All SELECT queries are defined
by yiidbQuery objects
• All other queries are defined by
yiidbCommand objects
• Schema-specific SQL is always
built with QueryBuilder
DB Queries

71. Query methodsQuery Definition Query Execution
select()
distinct()
from()
where()
innerJoin()
leftJoin()
rightJoin()
groupBy()
having()
union()
orderBy()
limit()
offset()
batch()
each()
all()
one()
scalar()
column()
count()
sum()
average()
min()
max()
exists()
createCommand()

72. SELECT query examples
$user = (new Query())
->from('{{%users}}')
->where(['id' => 5])
->one();

73. SELECT query examples
$users = (new Query())
->from('{{%users}}')
->where('age >= :min', [
':min' => 21
])
->all();

74. Command methodsQuery Definition Query Management Query Execution
insert()
batchInsert()
update()
delete()
createTable()
renameTable()
dropTable()
truncateTable()
addColumn()
dropColumn()
renameColumn()
alterColumn()
addPrimaryKey()
dropPrimaryKey()
addForeignKey()
dropForeignKey()
createIndex()
dropIndex()
cache()
noCache()
getSql()
setSql()
getRawSql()
prepare()
cancel()
bindParam()
bindPendingParams()
bindValue()
bindValues()
query()
queryAll()
queryOne()
queryScalar()
queryColumn()
execute()

75. More query examples
Yii::$app->db->createCommand()
->insert('users', [
'username' => 'brandon'
'age' => 29
])
->execute();

76. More query examples
Yii::$app->db->createCommand()
->update('users',
['age' => 30],
['id' => 5]
)
->execute();

77. How they map together
Query Execution Method Command Execution Method
all() queryAll()
one() queryOne()
count()
sum()
average()
min()
max()
exists()
scalar()
queryScalar()
column() queryColumn()

78. Active Record

79. • Base: yiidbActiveRecord
• Records’ ::find() methods
return ActiveQuery objects
• ActiveQuery handles the query
definition and active record
object population
Active Record

80. Active record query example
$users = User::find()
->where('age => :min', [
':min' => 21
])
->all();

81. Internationalization
(I18n)

82. • Yii 2 uses PHP’s Intl extension to
format dates, numbers, etc.
• Only very basic single-language
fallbacks built-in.
• Only 30% of servers have Intl
• What could go wrong?
Internationalization

83. Craft

84. • No more Craft namespace
• Namespaces reflect the folder
structure now
• Root namespace is craftapp
• Plugins’ root namespaces follow
the pattern craftpluginsfoo
Namespaces

85. • Craft 2: craft() returns the
CraftWebApp instance
• Craft 3: Craft::$app returns the
craftappwebApplication
instance
Accessing the Application instance

86. • Magic property names are still
available:
Craft::$app->entries
• We’ve also added getter methods
for all services:
Craft::$app->getEntries()
Accessing the Application components

87. • userSession is now user /
getUser()
• httpSession is now session /
getSession()
Application component name changes

88. Routes and Controllers

89. • In Craft 2, routes pointed to
templates by default, and could
point to a controller action with a
special syntax
• That’s reversed in Craft 2: by
default routes point to actions
Routes and controllers

90. Craft 2 route example
return array(
// Template route:
'foo' => 'path/to/template',
// Controller action route:
'bar' => array(
'action' => 'foo/bar'
)
);

91. Craft 3 route example
return [
// Template route:
'foo' => [
'template' => 'template/path',
],
// Controller action route:
'bar' => 'foo/bar'
];

92. • Params captured by URL rules
are now passed directly to the
action’s arguments
• URL Manager’s
setRouteVariables() is now
setRouteParams()
Routes and controllers

93. Models

94. • No more defineAttributes()
• Attributes must be defined as
public properties on the model
• Validation rules must be defined
in the rules() method
Model changes in Craft 3

95. Craft 2 model example
class User extends BaseModel {
protected function defineAttributes()
{
return array(
'id' => AttributeType::Number,
'age' => AttributeType::Number
);
}
}

96. Craft 3 model example
class User extends Model {
public $id;
public $age;
public function rules() {
return [
['id,age', 'number']
];
}
}

97. Records

98. • No more defineAttributes()
• Column names are determined
by analyzing the table
• Validation rules must be defined
in the rules() method
• Records no longer create tables
Record changes in Craft 3

99. Templates

100. • TemplatesService is now
craftappwebView
• include*()→register*()
• render()→renderTemplate()
• register[Css|Js]Resource()
register asset bundles
Templates

101. • “beginPage”, “endPage”,
“beginBody”, and “endBody”
events are triggered when
rendering templates
Templates

102. ‘Types

103. • No more separation of
component models and their
“type” classes
‘Types

104. Field type architectureCraft 2 Craft 3
Field Model
Field Type
Field Model

105. Widget type architectureCraft 2 Craft 3
Widget Model
Widget Type
Widget Model

106. Task type architectureCraft 2 Craft 3
Task Model
Task Type
Task Model

107. Element type architectureCraft 2 Craft 3
Element Model
Element Type
Element Model

108. ‘Type Settings

109. • No more defineSettings()
• Settings are now defined directly
on the component classes as
public properties
‘Type settings

110. Craft 2 field type example
class XFieldType extends BaseFieldType
{
protected function defineSettings() {
return array(
'maxlen' => AttributeType::Number
);
}
// ...
}

111. Craft 3 field type example
class X extends Field
{
public $maxlen;
// ...
}

112. Element Queries

113. • ElementCriteriaModel ,
modifyElementsQuery(), and
defineCriteriaAttributes()
are dead!
• Replaced with Element Query
classes
Element Queries

114. • Elements’ ::find() methods
return ElementQuery objects
• ElementQuery handles the query
definition and element object
population
Element Queries

115. • Element types that need custom
query parameters can extend
ElementQuery and override their
element class’ ::find() method
to return their custom element
query class
Element Queries

116. • Element queries have protected
beforePrepare() and
afterPrepare() methods that
can be overridden to support
custom parameters
Element Queries

117. Element query example
class User extends Element {
public static function find() {
return new UserQuery(
get_called_class()
);
}
// ...
}

118. Element query example
class UserQuery extends ElementQuery {
public $age;
protected function beforePrepare() {
if ($this->age) {
$this->subQuery->andWhere(
['age' => $this->age]
);
}
return parent::beforePrepare();
}
}

119. Plugins

120. • Primary plugin class is no longer
necessary
• Plugins are modules
• General plugin info now defined
by config.json
Plugins

121. config.json example
{
"name": "Foo",
"version": "1.0",
"developer": "Pixel & Tonic",
"developerUrl": "http://foo.com"
}

122. • Plugins are modules
• Primary plugin class is optional
• General plugin info now defined
in config.json
• No more strict class name/folder
requirements
Plugins

123. Installing Plugins

124. • Craft 2 would automatically
create/drop tables based on your
records on install/uninstall
• Craft 3 leaves it up to the plugin,
calling its install() and
uninstall() methods
Installing Plugins

125. • By default, install() and
uninstall() will check for an
“Install” migration within the
plugin, and call its safeUp() and
safeDown() methods
Installing Plugins

126. • Craft has an InstallMigration
class that can be extended
• All you have to do is override its
defineSchema() function,
defining your plugin’s default
table schema.
Installing Plugins

127. Install migration example
class Install extends InstallMigration
{
protected function defineSchema() {
'{{%foo_users}}' => [
'columns' => [
'username' => 'string(36)',
'age' => 'integer'
]
]
}
}

128. • Craft has its own Install migration
that the installer runs:
craft/app/migrations/Install.php
• Also shows how to add default
content to the tables
Installing Plugins

129. Let’s port a plugin

130. Thank you!
Try the Craft 3 Dev Preview today at
buildwithcraft.com/3