What's next for Dancer? (looking into the future)

It's been a busy year, and we got a lot to be happy about. But there is always more work to be done, and always more improvements to be made.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it should give you a little glimpse for some of the things we have in store for 2019:

• New Documentation

  You asked for it, and I made reference to it on day 1, all new documentation is coming in 2019. While many of you love the docs, a lot of you don't, and thanks to your comments in last year's survey, we think we have a good understanding of why.

  The new documentation branch is well underway, and addresses the shortcomings of the existing documentation by explaining important concepts in a clear and simple way. You'll have a better understanding of how and why Dancer2 does the things it does.

  New users will get some grounding in web development techniques, too. There's a lot of great changes for everyone!

• New Website

  There's a lot of great information on the Dancer website, but it's looking tired. There's a lot of new information to be added, and with a fresh coat of paint, Dancer's website will be as great as the software powering it.

• More configuration options

  Configuration in Dancer2 leaves a lot to be desired (and I'll admit that I am a big part of the reason for why that is). Look for an overhaul of the configuration system in 2019, which starts with a barebones configuration system and allows for pluggable configuration engines (much like loggers and sessions in Dancer2). Since we are dedicated to not breaking working code, all of the existing configuration logic would be packaged as a plugin and enabled out of the box.

• Inline parameter type checking

  Very similar in many ways to Sawyer's Dancer2::Plugin::ParamTypes plugin, but provided as core functionality. SysPete is actively developing a way to provide (optional) type checking of parameters within the core of Dancer2.

  In case you haven't read Sawyer's article about type checking parameters passed to your Dancer applications, I highly recommend it. It will change the way you do data validation.

• Continued support for Dancer (1)

  While most all of our effort is spent on Dancer2 these days, there are no plans to sunset Dancer (1) as of now. Many of the core developers are still actively maintaining applications written in Dancer, as is much of our community.

  It is still our hope, however, that with an easy migration path from Dancer to Dancer2 that more of you will make the switch in 2019.

Happy Holidays!

We hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday season, and we look forward to a great 2019! Until then, keep on Dancing!

Author

This article has been written by Jason Crome (CromeDome) for the Perl Dancer Advent Calendar 2018.

Copyright

No copyright retained. Enjoy.

Jason A. Crome