Roadmap.md - compiler-explorer - Rivoreo Source Code Repositories

 # Compiler Explorer Road Map

 CE was started in 2012 to serve my needs at [my company](https://drw.com) to show how
 C++ constructs translated to assembly code. It started out as a `tmux` session with `vi` running in one
 pane and `watch gcc -S foo.cc -o -` running in the other. Since then, it became a public website
 serving the C++, Rust, Go, Haskell, Ispc, D, Swift and Pascal communities and performs around 20,000 compilations per day.

 This document is an attempt to capture thoughts on the future direction of Compiler Explorer.

 ## Areas to improve

 ### Mobile client support

 CE's UI doesn't work well with mobile clients. The editor doesn't work well on many mobile clients, and the
 layout doesn't lend itself well to small screens.

 Ideas for improving mobile support include automatically folding up all the panes into a single tab upon
 detection of a mobile client. This would require a bunch of fixes in the
 underlying [UI library](http://golden-layout.com) as this doesn't properly work with mobile and tabs.

 Perhaps a read-only simplified view would work better: the main reason one brings up the CE website is to
 look at tweeted links rather than author content.

 ### UI improvements

 The UI has a number of things that need improving:

 - [X] Multiple editor windows
 - [X] Saving and restoring from browser-local storage
 - [ ] Handling the loss of data if one has a work-in-progress CE window open and then clicks another CE link.

 ### Execution support

 Another big ticket item is to allow executing of the user's code. This is fraught with security issues, and
 brings up a number of UI and API considerations. Compiling code every time to execute with different params
 seems wasteful, so caching seems good; but in a multi-instance setup a shared cache woudl be needed. Perhaps
 a backend system that caches the executables (and makes them downloadable; at least for some compilers where
 license allows), and stores the binaries in ephemeral, shared storage. This same backend system could also
 be used to store code, and could be part of a whole new way of sending and sharing code (if made permanent
 storage).

 ### Support more compilers

 Most of the open tickets are to do with adding new compilers, or fixing issues with existing compilers.
 Continuing to add more compilers and make it easier for others to submit PRs to add new compilers is
 very important. A [separate document](docs/AddingACompiler.md) explains how to add a compiler.

 ## Tensions

 There's an inherent tension between the standalone, run-it-yourself version of CE and the scalable, AWS-backed
 CE instance. Care must be taken to keep the standalone version usable, not least as the majority of CE's
 development is done on a laptop during a commute (with little or no internet access).

 ## Priorities

 Above all, the priority is to keep the main CE site up, stable and dependable.
 That also means that URLs should live forever once they are created

 ## Non-goals
 CE will remain ad-free, open-source and non-commercial. There's no plans at all to add "freemium" content,
 despite the Patreon site where folks can help support the cost of running the servers.

 ## 2017 goals

 With all this in mind, the tentative goals for 2017 are:

 - [X] Move to the Monaco editor
    - [X] Implement diff view
 - [X] Come up with a decent secure solution for code execution
 - [X] Unify every language
 - [ ] Design an API that can handle remote code execution and download needs
 - [ ] Implement remote execution UIs

 These goals will be refined as time ticks on.
	# Compiler Explorer Road Map

	CE was started in 2012 to serve my needs at [my company](https://drw.com) to show how
	C++ constructs translated to assembly code. It started out as a `tmux` session with `vi` running in one
	pane and `watch gcc -S foo.cc -o -` running in the other. Since then, it became a public website
	serving the C++, Rust, Go, Haskell, Ispc, D, Swift and Pascal communities and performs around 20,000 compilations per day.

	This document is an attempt to capture thoughts on the future direction of Compiler Explorer.

	## Areas to improve

	### Mobile client support

	CE's UI doesn't work well with mobile clients. The editor doesn't work well on many mobile clients, and the
	layout doesn't lend itself well to small screens.

	Ideas for improving mobile support include automatically folding up all the panes into a single tab upon
	detection of a mobile client. This would require a bunch of fixes in the
	underlying [UI library](http://golden-layout.com) as this doesn't properly work with mobile and tabs.

	Perhaps a read-only simplified view would work better: the main reason one brings up the CE website is to
	look at tweeted links rather than author content.

	### UI improvements

	The UI has a number of things that need improving:

	- [X] Multiple editor windows
	- [X] Saving and restoring from browser-local storage
	- [ ] Handling the loss of data if one has a work-in-progress CE window open and then clicks another CE link.

	### Execution support

	Another big ticket item is to allow executing of the user's code. This is fraught with security issues, and
	brings up a number of UI and API considerations. Compiling code every time to execute with different params
	seems wasteful, so caching seems good; but in a multi-instance setup a shared cache woudl be needed. Perhaps
	a backend system that caches the executables (and makes them downloadable; at least for some compilers where
	license allows), and stores the binaries in ephemeral, shared storage. This same backend system could also
	be used to store code, and could be part of a whole new way of sending and sharing code (if made permanent
	storage).

	### Support more compilers

	Most of the open tickets are to do with adding new compilers, or fixing issues with existing compilers.
	Continuing to add more compilers and make it easier for others to submit PRs to add new compilers is
	very important. A [separate document](docs/AddingACompiler.md) explains how to add a compiler.

	## Tensions

	There's an inherent tension between the standalone, run-it-yourself version of CE and the scalable, AWS-backed
	CE instance. Care must be taken to keep the standalone version usable, not least as the majority of CE's
	development is done on a laptop during a commute (with little or no internet access).

	## Priorities

	Above all, the priority is to keep the main CE site up, stable and dependable.
	That also means that URLs should live forever once they are created

	## Non-goals
	CE will remain ad-free, open-source and non-commercial. There's no plans at all to add "freemium" content,
	despite the Patreon site where folks can help support the cost of running the servers.

	## 2017 goals

	With all this in mind, the tentative goals for 2017 are:

	- [X] Move to the Monaco editor
	- [X] Implement diff view
	- [X] Come up with a decent secure solution for code execution
	- [X] Unify every language
	- [ ] Design an API that can handle remote code execution and download needs
	- [ ] Implement remote execution UIs

	These goals will be refined as time ticks on.