Firebug Roadmap

From FirebugWiki

• This page is intended to summarize plans and directions for Firebug.next
• Provide any feedback on Firebug newsgroup

Contents 1 Strategy 2 Version Numbering 3 Schedule 4 Suggested Features 5 Planned Features / Changes 5.1 Regular Tasks 5.2 Feature Overview 5.3 Feature Description 5.3.1 Adopt JSD2 5.3.2 SPDY Support 5.3.3 Group Console Messages 5.3.4 Support for PerformanceTiming 5.3.5 Integrate SelectBug 5.3.6 Improve $x() 5.3.7 Auto-completion for Command Editor 5.3.8 Event types filter 5.3.9 Syntax highlighting for JavaScript 5.3.10 Deleting all watch expressions at once 5.3.11 Activate Same Origin URLs enhancements 6 Resources

Strategy

This section describes goals and strategy that keeps Firebug a competitive in-browser tool and leader in space of in-browser developer tools.

• Improve memory footprint & performance
• Reuse built-in dev-tools API and components
• Innovate features that only Firebug can deliver
• Extension compatibility
• Faster release cycle

Version Numbering

The next planned version number is: 1.11

Development happens on Firebug 1.11 branch (currently alpha).

If a significant new feature (or set of features) is introduced in new release the version numbering can move into 2.* scheme. An example of such feature can be support for remote debugging.

Schedule

The goal is to introduce new Firebug release till the end of 2012

Phase	Start Date
Alpha	Started
Beta	9th of November
Final Release	7th of December

• The entire release cycle (from the first alpha to the final release) should target 4-5 months
• The beta phase should be at least 4 weeks
• The new release should introduce 8-10 new features (or significant bug fixes)

Suggested Features

Use this section to suggest any feature you'd like to see in Firebug.next.

• JSD2 Adoption
• Remote Debugging
• Integrating FireClosure

Planned Features / Changes

This section summarizes all features that are planned for Firebug.next. Every feature in this section must have an owner.

Regular Tasks

• Firebug 1.10 blockers (not fixed)
• Firebug 1.11 blockers

Feature Overview

Feature	Developers	Related Issues	Status
Adopt JSD2	Honza, Sebastian, Farshid	Issue 5421: Adopt JSD2	started
Group Console Messages	Sebastian	Issue 4979: Group console messages	started
SPDY Support	Bharath	Issue 5696: SPDY support in the Net panel	done
Support for PerformanceTiming	Honza	Issue 5843: Support for PerformanceTiming spec	done
Integrate SelectBug	Honza	Issue 5843: Integrate SelectBug extension into Firebug	done
Improve $x()	Sebastian	Issue 18: Beef up $x	done
Auto-completion for Command Editor	Simon	Issue 55: Auto-completion for Command Editor issue 5741: Auto-completion within expression in Command Line	not started
Event types filter	Sebastian	Issue 229: Allow event types to be filtered with "Log Events"	started
Syntax highlighting for JavaScript	Honza	Issue 4823: Native javascript code color/highlight (without FireRainbow extension) Issue 5175: Integrate Orion as replacement for the Script panel UI	started
Delete all watch expressions at once	Florent	Issue 5639: Allow deleting all watch expressions at once	done
Activate Same Origin URLs enhancements	Sebastian	Issue 2202: Activate Same Origin URLs enhancements	not started

• Feature planning should keep in mind the suggested release schedule above

Feature Description

This section provides detailed description of all planned features.

Adopt JSD2

Firebug script debugger and all related features like BON (break on ...) should be based on new JSD2 API. Using JSD2 API will also enable remote debugging.

Part of this task is also internal Firebug architecture refactoring so it's ready for remote debugging features. Note that adopting JSD2 doesn't automatically mean that Firebug is remote-debugging-ready. This is covered by issue 5837

Note that this task doesn't have to make it into Firebug.next, but it could be possible (if useful) to at least merge code changes.

Resources:

• Firebug 1.7 BTI
• Script Panel Refactoring
• Remoting Prototype
• Remoting Architecture

Source Repository: Development happens on JSD2 branch

SPDY Support

Tasks:

• Display use of SPDY protocol for requests inside Net Panel

Group Console Messages

Console messages optionally need to be grouped to avoid spamming the Console Panel.

Tasks:

• Group error messages
• Group messages produced by the console object

Support for PerformanceTiming

Performance timing data accessible through window.performance.timing should be displayed.

Tasks:

• Decide where and how to display the data (probably inside Console Panel)
• Create the graphical display

Integrate SelectBug

Tasks:

• Integrate SelectBug
• Fix any occurring errors

Improve $x()

The Command Line API $x() should cover all functionality of document.evaluate().

Tasks:

• Let $x() return arrays, strings, integers and booleans
• Add a parameter to specify the root element
• Add a parameter to specify the return type

Auto-completion for Command Editor

Add the Command Line auto-completion to the (multi-line) Command Editor inside the Console Panel.

Tasks:

• Allow auto-completion within an expression
• Add auto-completion to the Command Editor
• Enhance positioning of the Completion List Popup

Event types filter

The user should have the possibility to choose certain event types to be logged to the Console Panel.

Tasks:

• Create menu items for the different event groups
• Refactor setting the event types to work together with the ones set via monitorEvents().

Syntax highlighting for JavaScript

The Script Panel should have syntax highlighting enabled for the displayed JavaScript code.

Tasks:

• Replace SourceBox code by Orion
• Re-add context menu options
• Adjust CSS to match the Firebug UI

Deleting all watch expressions at once

Allow removing all watch expressions added to the Watch Side Panel at the same time.

Tasks:

• Add a context menu option "Delete All Watches"

Activate Same Origin URLs enhancements

Firebug Activation needs to distinguish between subdomains when Activate Same Origin is enabled.

Tasks:

• Change the activation logic to consider subdomains

Resources

• Firebug 1.10 Roadmap