Design vs. Develop

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the differences between Joomla! and Drupal, as people seem to ask me about this all too frequently. The best analogy I can come up with is this: Drupal is like a model airplane, while Joomla! is like a model train set. Both accomplish the same task: keeping an 8 to 80 year old entertained for several hours by modeling a mode of transportation. However, both accomplish this task in different ways.

When you open the box for a model airplane, you’ll find a lot of little pieces. The fun of putting together a model airplane comes through learning how they all fit together. You see all of the details of the fuselage; the representation is usually highly accurate.

When you start a model railroad, you’ll get a toy train engine with a few cars and some tracks. The engine and cars come preassembled, but you still get to lay out the tracks and experiment with different configurations. Assuming you have things wired correctly and the engine is on the track, your model train will start moving as soon as you flip the switch.

It would be highly contentious (if not flat out false) to claim that one of these toys is inherently better than the other. They are simply different models of real life vehicles. You will learn different things through each, but still end up with scaled models in the end.

I like my “model train” CMS. I’ve tried the “airplane” CMS and simply don’t like it as much. Each time Drupal makes a new release, I download it to see what’s new. I’m particularly pleased with the installation process: it’s much smoother than what it was a few years ago. If you like Drupal and it serves your needs, don’t let me stop you from using it: it’s good software. But I’m sticking with Joomla! because I prefer its approach over Drupal’s.