Jetpack/Roadmap

	Jetpack 2012 Roadmap
	Owner: David Mason	Updated: 2011-12-15
	The Roadmap for Jetpack in 2012 shifts focus to Deep-integrators. Top priorities are: Mobile Prefs API, Mobile Add-on Tab API, Chrome-mods, CType Helper Util, Places API, Crypto API, l10n, and moving Add-on's from lower add-on bar to the top of the browser.

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Changing Focus

The Jetpack project had a desire from the beginning to make the creation of an add-on easier than the existing, traditional toolset allowed. To that end, we also had the goal of trying to bring in brand new developers by utilizing the tools of web development. This approach was designed to allow the creation of add-ons that fullfilled the use-cases of shallow-integrators - meaning, developers who didn't wish to make sweeping changes to the browser, but had simpler ambitions for their add-ons. For this audience, we have been successful in answering most of their needs. In addition, we also had a desire to answer the needs of an even lower level which might be described as Greasemonkey scripters - developers who wanted to write simple modifications to web pages. For this audience, the SDK is still too complicated and heavy for their needs. Their needs might be best answered in an even easier-to-use tool which is proposed in the addendum.

With the advent of web apps the world of add-ons will find that a good number of shallow-integrators will be moving their work to the app world. The Apps space will provide these developers with a platform in which they can simply take their web development toolset and reach an even wider audience than they could with an add-on. This is powerful for the shallow-integrators and could mean a fairly big shift in our audience. With that shift we must evaluate where we are and who our audience will be with this shift. To that end, this roadmap proposes a move towards answering the needs of a different audience, the deep-integrators.

Deep-integrators are the backbone of Firefox's add-on community. They are the developers who have made Firefox unique among browsers. While the SDK is still useful to them in its current state, we can make it an excellent toolset for them that offers a better platform than the traditional tools have. This roadmap reflects a change to address the needs of deep-integrators and make it easier for them to accomplish what they have been doing with the traditional tools.

Top Priorities

The top priorities for the Add-on SDK in 2012 are:

• Mobile
  • Prefs API
  • Add-on Tab API

• P1 APIs
  • Chrome-mods
  • Simpler Ctype API
  • Places API
  • Crypto API

• Continue Localization Work
• Move Add-ons to top of browser

Secondary Priorities

• Improve XPCOM Access
• Hidden window
• SDK as an Add-on
• Landing SDK in AMO
• Land APIs & Loader in Firefox
• P2 APIs
  • Intercept Network requests
  • Add-on Menu

Tertiary Priorities

• Extend Functionality in existing APIs
• Subclassing
• Test add-ons without restarting Firefox
• P3 APIs
  • Awesome Bar API
  • Integration with JS Debugging

Goals

2012 Goals By Quarter