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 Syntax highlighting for JavaScript 5.3.3 Group console messages 5.3.4 Mutation events removal 5.3.5 Auto-completion for Command Editor 5.3.6 Closure Inspector 5.3.7 Event types filter 5.3.8 Libraries code rewrite 5.3.9 Line numbers in CSS Edit Mode 5.3.10 Window/Document menu 5.3.11 Cache options 6 Resources

Strategy

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

Version Numbering

The next planned version number is: 1.12

Development happens on master 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 April 2013

Phase	Start Date
Alpha	Started
Beta	-
Final Release	-

• 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 1.11 blockers (not fixed)
• Firebug 1.12 blockers

Feature Overview

Feature	Developers	Related Issues	Status
Adopt JSD2	Honza, Sebastian, Farshid	Issue 5421: Adopt JSD2	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
Group console messages	Sebastian	Issue 4979: Group console messages	started
Mutation events removal	Simon	Issue 5490: Get rid of mutation events	started
Auto-completion for Command Editor	Simon	Issue 55: Auto-completion for Command Editor issue 5741: Auto-completion within expression in Command Line	not started
Closure Inspector	Sebastian	Issue 5873: Integrate FireClosure Issue 6183: Closure Inspector: some variables are treated as DOM properties Issue 6184: Closure Inspector: named function expression scopes are duplicated Issue 6185: Closure Inspector: .% syntax doesn't work when execution is stopped in frame	started
Event types filter	Sebastian	Issue 229: Allow event types to be filtered with "Log Events"	started
Libraries code rewrite	Florent	Issue 6164: Libraries code rewrite	started
Line numbers in CSS Edit Mode	-	Issue 2153: Show line numbers in Edit mode	not started
Window/Document menu	-	Issue 4173: Window/Document menu	not started
Cache options	-	Issue 4536: Cache options	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

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

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

Mutation events removal

Mutation events are replaced by mutation observers. So we need to move to them.

Tasks:

• Replace mutation events by mutation observers in HTML panel
• Replace mutation events by mutation observers in CSS panel
• Remove "mutation" event type
• Replace mutation events by mutation observers in FBTest

Resources:

• Mutation observers reference

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

Closure Inspector

Closure variables should be displayed inside the DOM Panel and be accesssible via the Command Line.

Tasks:

• Integrate FireClosure
• Improve UI
• Fix issues of FireClosure

Resources:

• FireClosure repository

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().

Libraries code rewrite

The APIs inside the /lib should be refactored to simplify and optimize them. Because extensions are also using these functions, it is important to keep the backward compatibility as far as possible.

Tasks:

• Rewrite the functions
• Add JSDocs to all functions

Line numbers in CSS Edit Mode

The Source Edit Mode of the CSS Panel should have line numbers for easier navigation.

Tasks:

• Integrate Orion into the Source Edit Mode
• Ajust the display to fit to the Firebug UI

Window/Document menu

A menu should allow to easily switch between different frame contexts of a page.

Tasks:

• Allow to switch between frame contexts in Console Panel
• Allow to switch between frame contexts in HTML Panel
• Allow to switch between frame contexts in CSS Panel
• Allow to switch between frame contexts in Script Panel
• Allow to switch between frame contexts in DOM Panel
• Allow to switch between frame contexts in Net Panel
• Allow to switch between frame contexts in Cookies Panel

Cache options

Reading the Firebug preferences from the Firefox preferences should just happen once to avoid unnecessary disk accesses.

Tasks:

• Adjust getPref()
• Adjust setPref()

Resources

• Firebug 1.11 Roadmap