In this chapter we looked at some of the ways we, as module developers, can set up simple and complex data-processing tasks that can run at any time we want.
We started by looking into using the multi-request capabilities of the update hooks. This was a continuation from Chapter 8, The Database API, where we introduced them for the first time, and we have now seen how we can expand on their capabilities. Then, we turned to the more complex Batch API which uses similar, albeit more complex, techniques. This system allowed us to construct a series of operations that leveraged Drupal's multi-request capabilities. Our playground was the JSON products importer, which can now handle large amounts of data without the worry of PHP memory timeouts. Next, we looked at how Drupal's cron system works and why it is there, and even saw an example of how, as module developers...