Drupal 11.1 Introduces Class-Based Hooks for Improved Development

Drupal 11.1 introduces a significant update for developers by allowing hooks to be implemented as class methods using PHP attributes, while still maintaining support for traditional function-based hooks. As detailed in an article by Joe Shindelar, published by Drupalize.Me, this change marks a major shift in Drupal’s approach to modularity, improving code organization, enabling dependency injection, enhancing testability, and offering performance benefits through PSR-4 autoloading. 

The history of Drupal’s hook system, dating back 24 years, shows its evolution from function-based implementations to the modern object-oriented approach. The updated system allows hooks to be encapsulated in classes, reducing clutter in `.module` files and making the codebase more maintainable. Drupalize.Me is actively updating tutorials to reflect this change, ensuring developers can work with both the traditional and the new class-based approaches. Notable updates include revisions to “What Are Hooks?” and “Implement Any Hook,” alongside broader modifications to the Drupal Module Developer Guide to align with Drupal 11.1's methodologies.