Whenever you get into a situation where you are not sure which version of Drupal to use, or you expect to get challenged by a client, my recommendation is to use the approach of putting together the pros and cons, and see what insights emerge.
This actually is a good follow-up to our discussion around Drupal 7 vs Drupal 8. So let's build a table for that case as an example.
This should be easily adaptable whenever Drupal 9 starts to be a thing. It also works for other technology discussions.
Note that this table doesn’t intend to be a fully comprehensive list -- just a starting point to launch a conversation. It may even need some updating as new Drupal 8 minor releases bring more and more functionality.
|
Criteria |
D7 |
D8 |
|
Reusability (from D7 platform) |
Very limited to none |
Higher reusability between Drupal 8 and next versions (Drupal 9, etc…) |
|
Upgrade effort to next version |
High |
Low |
|
Innovation |
Low |
High |
|
Security |
High until EOL (medium term) |
High (Long term) |
|
EOL |
Short (3 to 5 years, maybe less) |
High (>5 years) |
|
Usability |
Medium |
High (Innovations coming fast) ** |
|
Training (developers) |
Low |
Medium (PHP and OO developer should find it easier now thanks to less Drupalisms and more OO concepts) |
|
Training (site builders) |
Low if already familiar with Drupal 7 |
Medium to Low (as usability is improving and Drupal 8 backend does not change massively) |
|
Cost of ownership |
low |
Low (minor upgrades a bit higher) |
|
Cost of migration |
high |
Low (thanks to minor upgrades new philosophy, although it still needs to reach maturity) |
|
Support of 3rd party devices (screens, iot, etc) |
Low (via modules and some work) |
In core |
|
ADD YOUR CRITERIA |
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ADD YOUR CRITERIA |
