If you release a new version of your module and it needs to have a new database schema, you need to do two things to make this change work. First, be sure to update the schema structure in mymodule_schema() so that new installations of your module get the new database table structure. Second, use a hook_update_N() function,
Citing a need to be able to respond faster to events, and disappointment in the feature set and timeframe for Java 7, the team behind guardian.co.uk is using Scala as an alternative to Java for their new projects. InfoQ spoke to Web Platform Development Team Lead Graham Tackley about their current stack, the reasons behind the move, and the experience of using Scala in large-scale development.