DevTools/Features/Workspaces
Feature | Status | ETA | Owner |
Workspaces | Reviews underway | 2011-04-19 | 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
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
- Curtis Koenig: security contact
- 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
Security
Date Discussion occurred: 2011.04.14 Security Concerns:
- Feature could be used run arbitrary code
Responses to concerns:
- Interaction is one way and code only runs in a sandbox
- Sandbox inherits from content window
- Chrome settings preferences are off by default
- No collaboration built-in, scripts have to be shared out of band
- Scripts can not autorun
- No built-in interaction with web console
Outstanding issue / Next steps:
- None at this time