DevTools/Features/Workspaces

Feature	Status	ETA	Owner
Workspaces	Patch to bring add-on into the browser. Needs tests	2011-04-05	Kevin Dangoor

Summary

The Workspace concept began with Smalltalk environments and has been ported to a Firefox add-on. We believe that Workspaces provide a more pleasant way to experiment with code than the current tools which mimic a command line environment.

The prototype will allow us to get experience with this different work style and also give other people a chance to comment on it.

Release Requirements

• Convert the add-on into a browser feature with tests
• Add a pref to remove the content/chrome switch from view

Next Steps

• Prioritize the work vs. Web Console improvements
• Get it landed!

Related Bugs & Dependencies

Workspaces Status

Team

The Workspaces idea is new, so we're happy to get more input and help. Talk to us in #devtools on irc.mozilla.org

• Mihai Sucan (irc: msucan): current lead developer
• Rob Campbell (irc: robcee): initial developer
• Kevin Dangoor (irc: kdangoor): PM

Goals/Use Cases

Handy snippets: When working on an application, it's not uncommon to have a collection of common bits of code that you run against the page to test things. The Workspaces feature lets you load and save JavaScript files, which is a convenient way to keep track of these snippets.

Working on new code: You can use Workspaces to work on a new function. Write a little code, execute it and repeat. Once it works, you can copy/paste that code into your main program files.

Non-Goals

For this initial step, we're leaving off some obvious features:

• a better editor (Ace)
• external editor integration of any sort
• autocompletion