DevTools and Intent to Implement process

[J. Ryan Stinnett]

DevTools would like to get involved earlier in the implementation
process for new platform features.

In particular, we'd like to head towards a world where:

1. Platform features are architected in such a way from the start that
adding debugging / instrumentation is (relatively) easy
2. DevTools for a feature are discussed early on in a bug that
interested parties can follow while the platform feature is being
implemented

By working with the platform team as features are developed (instead
of afterwards), we can discuss any debugging and instrumentation APIs
our tools may need, give feedback as we start to build tools, etc.
We're hoping this will help us to release tools closer to the time
frame that the platform features are available. Tools for new
features should increase adoption of those features, as they make it
easier for web developers to explore and understand them.

The DevTools team has recently discussed[1] this, and we thought
becoming more integrated in the platform "Intent to Implement" process
would be a good thing to do. Specifically, we'd like to have a
"DevTools" line in the "intent to implement" template[2] which would
link to a bug on building tools for the feature for further
discussion.

Thoughts? (Replies to dev-platform.)

[1]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/mozilla.dev.developer-tools/fZOxb3t0Npk/discussion
[2]: https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI/ExposureGuidelines#Intent_to_Implement

- Ryan

[Jet Villegas]

Excellent thread! Yes to more Dev Tools!!! Feel free to add a dev tooling
section to the e-mail templates we use for "Intent to Implement" and
"Intent to Ship" linked here:

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Intent_to_implement

We've started implementing the Web Animations API [1] with very early
collaboration with the Dev Tools team and have seen very promising results.
Is that a model we can continue to follow or modify to suit?

--Jet

[1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=998245

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[J. Ryan Stinnett]

On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 3:47 PM, Jet Villegas <jvil...@mozilla.com> wrote:
> We've started implementing the Web Animations API [1] with very early
> collaboration with the Dev Tools team and have seen very promising results.
> Is that a model we can continue to follow or modify to suit?

While I was not directly involved in this work, I believe that model
worked well overall from what I could tell.

Getting involved early does mean things may be less stable or subject
to change as Patrick mentions[1], but the benefits of early feedback
for both platform and DevTools teams are still much more valuable
overall. I am sure we can smooth out this process in the future, as
I've only seen it happen a few times so far.

So yes, I think it's a good model to work from. Let's do more of it!

[1]: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/mozilla.dev.developer-tools/fZOxb3t0Npk/_LXhVKSgs6EJ

- Ryan

[J. Ryan Stinnett]

On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 3:07 PM, J. Ryan Stinnett <jry...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The DevTools team has recently discussed[1] this, and we thought
> becoming more integrated in the platform "Intent to Implement" process
> would be a good thing to do. Specifically, we'd like to have a
> "DevTools" line in the "intent to implement" template[2] which would
> link to a bug on building tools for the feature for further
> discussion.

Since I received 1 reply in favor and 0 opposed, I've gone ahead and
added a line to the "Intent to Implement" template for this purpose.

I hope this will lead to earlier discussion between our teams, which
should be beneficial to all involved. If it ends up not working out,
we can always revisit the idea.

- Ryan