[dojo-contributors] Figuring out what Dojo needs to become. A few questions.

[Alex Russell]

On Monday 18 December 2006 8:20 pm, Bill Keese wrote:
> Dylan Schiemann wrote:
> >> We must do better.
> >
> > That much was never disagreed upon.  But what gets me
> > annoyed/perturbed is lots of talk, and no concrete
> > data/analysis/plan/action.  Without that, we're just blowing
> > negative smoke about the project, putting down the people that have
> > contributed to our success so far, and not getting the results we
> > need.
>
> Right.  Alex, your note didn't have any specifics in it; it wasn't
> actionable.  This is why I asked for everyone to write concrete
> proposals in http://dojo.jot.com/Widgets2.0   Although the stuff on
> that page still isn't nearly good enough.  Too many vague statements
> about "we need to do XYZ" without saying how to do it.

Sorry for the delay in my reply. I've been discussing and cogitating 
about what steps to take, and here's what's currently on my short list 
(many of which are ideas that others have proposed to me, so I can't 
take the credit for them):

CODE:
-----

	* simplify the widget construction syntax
		- remove the <dojo:whatever ...> style in HTML environments
		- remove the <div dojoType="..."> style in HTML environments
		- enhance the <div class="dojo-Whatever"> style to support parameter 
passing based on node ID and/or type
		- build a faster parser pass based on "behavior: expression()" syntax 
on IE and XSLT on FireFox. Combined with constrained construction 
semantics, it should yeild a significant performance win for page init.
	* unified L&F
		- default style sheet
			* must make default font, color, and spacing choices
				- setting the baseline is a feature, not a bug
			* provide single place to over-ride L&F "constants"
		- neutral colors (as per Torrey's suggestion)
		- completed keystroke and a11y hinting
			* policy of no new non-experimental widgets without a11y and L&F 
signoff (Becky and Torrey)
	* decouple the IxD project from 1.0
		- give the IxD project a direction, support, and the ability to carve 
out a new namespace, but make their development orthoginal so that they 
can ship independently of our release schedule
	* build theme and data binding infrastructure for 1.0
	* enhance the template syntax to support data binding (iteration, 
enumeration, repaint events, etc.)
	* testing
		- selenium
		- no new features without tests
		- "week of tests" in 0.5 timeframe where the only checkins to trunk 
will be tests

NON-CODE:
---------	

	* change download link to land users at a "background download" page 
which provides the immediate "getting started" info as well as links to 
other places to look for help
	* enhance the doc generation system to support formatting. We 
have "docs", but they're not useable right now since adding any 
non-trivial amount of information ensures that it gets lost in the 
resulting UI.
	* ensure that Andrew has the support he needs to get the website done 
and get it released
		- task-lists for work breakdown
		- coherent themeing of wiki, blog, and forums
	* policy enforcement for Feature Buddy system
		- checkin notices must either reference a bug ticket or a Feature 
Buddy (enhancement ticket ref or no ref) or checkin to trunk will be 
denied by the system
		- notification to buddies that checkins with their "signoff" have been 
made (trust, but verify)



There's more, but it's escaping me at 4:30 in the morning. I'll try to 
have a more coherent list when I return from Christmas.

Regards

-- 
Alex Russell
alex at sitepen.com     A99F 8785 F491 D5FD 04D7 ACD9 4158 FFDF 2894 6876
alex at dojotoolkit.org BE03 E88D EABB 2116 CC49 8259 CF78 E242 59C3 9723
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