We have 2 presentations this month on tools to use in developing Drupal sites Docker and Grunt.
Docker. So, you're going to work on a Drupal site. You need to create a local version on your computer. Before you can even start doing productive work, you've got all this work to do: pull the code, grab the database, set up your environment, is it time for lunch yet? Let alone, will your client understand that this must be done before you can actually start addressing their issues? (Yes, clients have issues.)
If you have 3 Drupal developers in a room, they'll offer up 6 to 100 different ways to do this, from using a Linux local, to Drush, to virtual machines, to whatever. Packaging up a VM and just installing it on your local sounds great, but the VM must recreate absolutely everything, so the VM can be slow, a memory hog and the image can be huge.
Enter Docker. Ever since I saw a presentation on Docker at DrupalCon Munich, I've been enamored with the idea, but I've never really worked with it. Frankly, the project was not very stable or full featured back then. Recently, the project has gotten very popular and many people have worked on it to make it a viable, lightweight virtualization solution.
Personally, I'm a Docker novice, but there's nothing like committing to a presentation to get yourself ramped up. I'll share alternatives to Docker, the advantages and disadvantages of Docker, installing Docker for a Drupal installation, packaging up a Drupal/Docker environment and transferring it to a developer colleague. (As I write this, I haven't yet made a portable Docker environment, but I hope I'll be there before the date of this meeting!)
I'll be sharing many resources for you to use Docker on your own if you decide you'd like to give it a try.
Grunt. Grunt is a task runner that lets you automate tasks and can speed up productivity with little effort. For example, if you change a javascript file grunt can automatically run Uglify, JSHint, run your tests, clear cache, add to GIT, and display a message that everything was updated successfully. Grunt is run on Node and has many plugins including CoffeeScript, jade, JSHint, Sass, and modernizer
Time and location. We have all been enjoying the great meeting rooms and great internet connectivity of the 21st Century Library. You'll see that this meeting is later in the month that usual. It's getting more difficult to find available rooms as the community discovers this great facility.