Acquia Back End Specialist (D10) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Render array cacheability

Render arrays carry #cache with tags, contexts, and max-age; the renderer bubbles these to parents so cached output invalidates correctly when underlying data changes.

Service definition file

A mymodule.services.yml file registers services with a class and arguments; Drupal's container compiles these into the service container for dependency injection.

Plugin annotation

Plugin classes declare metadata in a docblock annotation (or PHP attribute in Drupal 10) with an id; the plugin manager discovers and instantiates them.

hook_form_alter

A hook that lets modules modify any form's structure and behavior; form-specific variants use hook_form_FORM_ID_alter and receive $form and $form_state by reference.

Database API placeholders

Drupal's database layer uses prepared statements with named placeholders like :name to bind user input, preventing SQL injection in dynamic queries.

Configuration schema

A config/schema/mymodule.schema.yml file declares the structure and types of configuration; Drupal validates stored config against it to catch mismatches.

Twig autoescaping

Twig escapes output by default in Drupal; the |raw filter disables escaping and should only be used on trusted, sanitized markup.

Entity base vs bundle fields

Base fields are defined in code on the entity class and shared by all bundles; bundle fields are attached per bundle and configurable through the UI.

Controller dependency injection

Controllers implement a static create() method receiving the container and returning an instance; services are then injected via the constructor.

Cache contexts

Cache contexts (e.g., user.roles, url.path) declare what a cached item varies by; the renderer combines contexts to key cache entries correctly.

Cache tags

Cache tags like node:1 or config:system.site identify data a cached item depends on; invalidating a tag clears all cache entries carrying it.

Dynamic Page Cache

A core module that caches full page responses per cache context and tag, serving cached pages to both anonymous and authenticated users when contexts match.

BigPipe

A core module that streams page placeholders to the browser and replaces them as they render, improving perceived performance for uncacheable content.

Form API access control

The #access property on form elements controls rendering and submission; route-level access uses _permission requirements in routing.yml with AccessResult cacheability.

JSON:API module

A core module exposing entities as JSON:API resources; it requires proper entity access permissions and supports filtering, sorting, and sparse fieldsets.

Preprocess functions

Functions like mymodule_preprocess_node(&$variables) run before Twig rendering to add or modify template variables; they are named by theme hook.

Acquia Cloud environments

Acquia Cloud Platform provides Dev, Stage, and Prod environments, each with its own database, code branch, and domain; code and data move between them explicitly.

Acquia Cloud API

A REST API at api.acquia.com authenticated with OAuth2 or API tokens; it manages applications, environments, databases, backups, and deployments.

Cloud Hooks

PHP scripts in a repository's hooks/ directory that run on deployment events such as post-code-deploy or post-db-copy; they can execute drush commands and block deployment on failure.

Acquia CLI (acli)

A command-line tool for Acquia Cloud that authenticates with API tokens and supports drush, database pulls, environment management, and deployment tasks.

Acquia Cloud IDE

A browser-based development environment with the codebase, database, and services, supporting drush and composer; it connects to Cloud Platform via API tokens.

Acquia Cloud Edge CDN

A CDN and WAF layer that caches static assets at edge locations; cache purging uses the Cloud API or the Acquia Purge module, while Varnish handles dynamic page caching.

AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT variable

An environment variable set by Acquia Cloud identifying the current environment (dev, test, prod); settings.php uses it to select database and cache configuration.

Git-based deployment workflow

Code is pushed to Acquia's git remote on a branch, then deployed to an environment via UI or API; database and files are not moved by code deployment.

Acquia Cloud Site Factory

A multi-site management product using a factory model with site groups and staged deployments, distinct from single-site Cloud Platform hosting.

Database copy between environments

Acquia Cloud Platform copies databases between environments via the UI, API, or acli pull/push; backups are taken automatically and can be restored to any environment.

Drush sql-sync

A Drush command that copies a database between Drupal sites using aliases; commonly used to move data between Acquia environments and local setups.

Acquia Purge module

A Drupal module that purges Acquia Cloud Edge CDN and Varnish caches when content changes, using cache tags and the Cloud API.

Environment-specific settings.php

Acquia's settings.php reads AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT and AH_SITE_GROUP to select the correct database credentials and cache backend per environment.

OAuth2 client credentials

The authentication flow used by the Acquia Cloud API; a client ID and secret are exchanged for a scoped, expiring access token used on API requests.

Internal Page Cache

A core module caching full page responses for anonymous users; it complements Dynamic Page Cache and is a standard performance setting on Acquia Cloud.

Redis cache backend

A contributed module and settings.php configuration that stores Drupal cache bins in Redis instead of the database, reducing database load on Acquia Cloud environments.