Chapter 8: The Database API
In the previous two chapters, we talked extensively about our options as Drupal module developers for modeling and storing data. We also saw some examples of how to use things such as the State, Configuration, and Entity APIs, going into greater detail about the latter by using it to build something useful. One of the key takeaways from those chapters is that the need for custom database tables and/or direct queries against them and the database has become minimal.
The Entity system is flexible and robust, the combination of configuration and content entities providing much of the needs for storing data. Moreover, the Entity query and loading mechanisms have also made finding them easy. Odds are, this is enough for most of your use cases.
Furthermore, storage subsystems such as the State API (key/value) and UserData have also removed much of the need to create custom tables to store that kind of "one-off" data. Also, the Configuration API...
