Remove the coupling, and the need for a book on Front End Drupal vanishes, leaving us with a simple API which we can integrate with our own custom or third party front-end.
I disagree. With decoupling you might have a simple API, but that API is specific to the CMS you're using. You might still want to have a book from which to learn how to use it to create front ends.
I think Drupal can be taken seriously, but I'm just a casual user. I'm learning how it works in my spare time by setting up a web site and seeing what works and what doesn't. One resource I've found that has made it easier to separate the wheat from the chaff (as far as modules go) is the book Using Drupal, reviewed here
Maybe Drupal is an amateur CMS and all I'll get out of it is a beautiful blog, wiki or image gallery, but it seems to have a lot of potential. There are modules for e-commerce, file handling, security, and many others. It works well with PostgreSQL (my database choice) and other databases. There's a lot of capability here. One just has to proceed cautiously - reading, planning and testing - as with any big project.
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes. -- Dr. Warren Jackson, Director, UTCS
