We would like to share this list with you and get your feedback and inputs.
It will be presented and discussed again at ESUG.
Stef on the behalf of the engineering team of the Pharo consortium.
# Pharo 7 (and 8) potential roadmap
This document contains a list of actions that should be done during
Pharo 7 and 8.
It is not a definitive list. It is the result of a discussion within
the engineer team and RModers.
It first lists actions that should be performed at the image level
then lists the actions for the VM.
## Image
As a general principle, we will try to remove something when we add a
new features or version of a component.
### New tools
- Iceberg: Iceberg is the new tool suite to handle new VCS in Pharo.
For the moment it supports Git. This tool will become central to the
development of projects in Pharo. The key and first enhancements will
be:
- cherry picking
- multiple directories support, subtrees
- better new development process support
- Calypso: Calypso is a new tool suite for editing and navigating
code. It is modular and can easily be extended.
- integration, set as the default browser
- Hermes (binary loader): Hermes is a code loader that does not
require the compiler to be loaded. It will be used to speed up the
bootstrap.
- Beacon: Beacon is an announcement-based logger. It should be
introduced but in addition the left over of previous logging should be
cleaned and removed for example many of the transcript show: should be
removed.
- Inspector refreshing: the inspector should refresh its values by default.
- Cargo: Cargo is a new package manager. It supports the expression of
dependencies between packages. We are currently validating that it can
support conditional loading (platform) and building new tooling to
express and validate data.
- Check dependencies when committing. Pharo comes with a dependency
analyser tools. Such tools should be used before commiting to warn the
user when a new dependency is introduced in a package.
### Cleaning bloat
- Removing of Nautilus: Once Calypso will be integrated and exhibit
similar fetaures than Nautilus. Nautilus should be removed.
- Remove old text editor: there is only one or two widgets still using
the old text editor and the rubric text editor.
- Remove TxText: TxText was an attempt to get a new generation text
editor. Now it has been rewritten with a new design in Bloc so we
should remove it since Bloc editor is better and actively maintained.
- Remove Komitter: Iceberg already supports cherrypicking on commit
therefore Komitter can be safely removed from Pharo.
- Remove system categorizer: The old system categorizer is not used
anymore and should be remove.
- Old compiler removal: The old compiler should now get unloaded from Pharo.
- The old compiler should be moved to an external package and make
sure that it can be reloaded.
- In addition the encoders should be separated. (@@ more here@@)
- Old inspector cleanup: we should remove the eyeInspector framework
but we should introduce a minimal fallback inspector. This inspector
should work without Spec or any frameworks.
- Clean behavior protocol. The number of methods in the core Behavior,
ClassDescription and Class requires some analysis and cleaning.
- Kernel modularization: the effort on modularising the packages
should be continued.
### Language infrastructure
The following points are more related to the infrastructure of
manipulating and loading class definitions. There are the basis for
the future module system and cleaning some often hidden parts of the
system.
- New class definition: The class definition is not scaling anymore
due to the large number of options (traits, slot, tage, package,
immediate, ephemeron). A fluid-based message API should be designed.
- Support for Undefined classes: When loading old code or code whose
superclass has not yet being loaded, the system has inconsistent
behavior. Depending on the tools, it may not load the code, raise a
warning or decide that the superclass is Object without any other
notice and losing the name of the original superclass. We are working
on a new mechanism to support a unique way to handle such case. To be
presented at IWST/ESUG
- Class definition parser: Class definition is parser in different
place of the system and in addition the output is the direct creation
of a class object instead of an object representing the class
definition that can be further manipulated. We are working on class
definition parser. It produces a separate AST. It will help the
building of tools.
- Better update infrastructure. Pablo Tesone has been working on a
better update mechanism, better modular class builder.
- Ring2: Ring is a metamodel to manipulate code that is not actively
running in the current system. It is useful to perform analysis (such
as browsing, navigating off-line or remote definitions) before
actually loading the code. Ring got redesigned by Pavel Krivanek to
support the bootstrap of Pharo 60. The results is Ring2.
- Opal is the Pharo Compiler. It should be enhanced to support handle
better the warning and a general enhancement pass is needed.
### System enhancements
- Commandline enhancements. RMOD is currently improving the
command-line infrastructure and making sure that the system can work
in read-only mode.
- Cleaning streams: the idea is to make sure that the system does not
use the old streams. The idea is to start using the fileStreams and
make sure that the Stream package can be substituated in the future by
other streams with the same API. Therefore hardcoded class names
should be substituted with factory (readSream writeStream). From that
perspective we do not think that it is wise to introduce Xtreams. We
should analyse the API of the current implementation.
- New theme from the beginning. It is really important that each
version of Pharo is identified open the default opening. Pharo should
come up with two default themes: one light and one dark.
- Better themes/palettes support
- Better and nicer Tabs. Tabs design should be revisited.
- OSWindow world rendering: the effort to remove the logic of the
windowing from the VM should be continued. OSWindow should be used
instead.
- Freetype: The current freetype plugin is the source of many bugs and
problem. Thibault Raffaillac used FFI to do direct call to openGL
(@@to verify@@).
- Refactoring 2: Refactoring 2 is an improved version of the
refactorings developed by Gustavos Santos and they should used to
replace the existing one.
## VM
- 64-bits by default: Mac and Linux 64 bits VMs have been working for
over a year and since June 2017 a Windows 64 bits VM has been working.
The plan is to stabilize each part of Pharo that is not working in 64
bits as well as in 32 bits and make the 64 bits Pharo images and VM
the default download for Pharo.
- Headless VM: Ronie Salgado has built a headless VM on his VM branch,
we need to merge and check everything works fine. With the headless
VM, Pharo can be run in true headless mode (not with a hidden window)
and it is required for future VM features (embeddable VM, ...).
- Embeddable VM: The VM should be able to be embedded in external
applications, the application accessing objects through well-defined
APIs.
- Idle VM: The goal is to avoid the active waiting loop consuming
several per cent of cpu time when the Pharo image is not doing
anything.
- Android VM: integration of the Android VM build and tests in the
integration setup.
- Threaded FFI: all FFI calls should be non-blocking (reviving
prototype of Eliot)
- ZeroConf for ARM: The ARM VM should be available from the zeroConf servers
- Better support for large heaps (GC tuning API, incremental GC).
Pharo 64 bit is now able to manage large heap. However better
performance can be proposed by offering better settings for the
different GC zone.
- Integrate various fixes to support better high resolution display.
In Retina mac display Pharo looks blurry. The fix to support Retina
should be integrated in the VM.
### Sista-related
Sista is an optimizing JIT for Pharo. It is the result of multiple
years of developement by Clement Bera and Eliot Miranda. An optimizing
JIT is manipulating code (folding constant, rewriting it) before
compiling it to assembly code.
- New Block Closure implementation by default: Allows one to implement
in the Opal compiler the copying and clean blocks optimisations,
reduce massively the complexity of some parts of the JIT (debugging
API to map machine code pc to bytecode pc for example) and is required
for the Sista support. Some work remains in debugging/IDE support.
- New Bytecode set in production: Eases bytecode decoding (simplifying
the code base of the bytecode to source code decompiler, the debugger,
the JIT, etc.), lifts compiled code limitations (size of jumps, etc.)
and is required for the Sista support. Some work remains in debugging
support.
- Read-only objects: They work in Pharo 6, but the in-image support
needs to be improved (fall-back code of primitives, etc.) and some
polishing needs to be done (primitive error code not always correct,
etc.). Used for the support of different project, including GBS.
- Literals immutability (based on read-only objects). In particular an
analysis of the image usage of literal (string mutation) is needed.
- Sista preview: A first version of Sista will be integrated, yielding
1.5x performance boost on most applications, but will be optional and
will require specific constraints (not toying too much with literal
mutability, partial IDE support, etc.).
### Already done
- [DONE] Remove Shoreline reporter.
- [DONE] Kernel should not depend on Traits: This will speed up the
bootstrap and support the modular introduction of alternate traits
implementation currently designed by Pablo Tesone and tested in the
new generation of Moose.
