Drupal Views Patterns

Views is load-bearing on most mature Drupal sites — and it is routinely the #1 cold-render query-cost source. This skill has two halves: (A) general Views best practices and (B) the "View vs custom" decision. The lessons here were empirically verified on a large production Drupal 11 codebase (59 views / ~250 displays); measure claims the way drupal-performance says: cold-render real-SQL query COUNT, not local wall-clock.

On some projects the primary listing surfaces (library, leaderboard, events, profile) are hand-built SDC routes via custom controllers rather than Views; apply part B before reaching for a View for any new listing.

A. General Views best practices