gmane.comp.java.restlet

Jerome Louvel | 19 Aug 18:51

Restlet 1.2 roadmap

Hi all,

Now that version 1.1 RC1 is out, we are entering a phase of bug fixing before the final release. This gives us time to look above and beyond, to our next endeavors!

We want to release a 1.2 version that will be an evolution, still based on Java SE 5.0. It will be compatible with Restlet 1.1 but not directly with 1.0 as we will remove all previously deprecated code. We are expecting a development cycle of about a year with the following main features:

1) Enhanced Eclipse support

We want to lower the barrier of entry to the Restlet world for new users and facilitate the upgrade to newer versions. As Eclipse is probably the most widely used IDE and as we already have a somewhat hidden but nice OSGi bundle support, we want to go to the next step and add the following features:

Full OSGi distribution (compatible with Eclipse Equinox and Apache Felix)
Update site to allow installation and upgrade from Eclipse
Code wizards for Component, Application and Resource subclass creation

2) Embracing the Semantic Web

Here at Noelios Technologies, we strongly believe in the capacities of the Semantic Web and think that REST is a perfect spring bed for it to reach a wider developer audience. Like REST, the Semantic Web leverages the resource-oriented paradigm to express meaningful relations:

New org.restlet.relation core package
Support collections of resources
RDF serialization and parsing
URN dispatching support
SPARQL extension

3) Enhanced HTTP support

As HTTP is really at the core of REST, we want to continue increasing our coverage of its semantics in the Restlet API:

Full caching support
Multi-part representations
Proxies configuration support
WebDAV extension

4) Security refactoring

The Guard class has received many requests for enhancements. In Restlet 1.1, we introduced a level of authentication pluggability at the Engine level and added support for HTTP Digest, but the current single Guard approach started to show some limitations.

New org.restlet.security package
New Authenticator and Authorizer classes to separate those concerns from Guard
HtpasswdAuthenticator to support Apache htpasswd files
JAAS integration
OpenID support

5) Better and faster connectors

With the addition of the Grizzly connector in 1.1, we were first able to leverage the power of NIO from the Restlet API. We want to continue on this NIO path in 1.2:

Client Grizzly connector
Asynchronous request processing
Upgrade Simple connector to new NIO-based 4.0 version
Reintroduce AsyncWeb connector via support for MINA NIO framework 2.0
Persistent connections in internal HTTP connectors

6) Miscellaneous

Beyond the main priorities above, there are many other important features that we want to add as well:

Documentation (final release of Restlet book, wiki published as user manual)
Move com.noelios.restlet engine classes into hidden org.restlet.engine package (single JAR)
Client-side resources (same Resource class)
JAX-RS client side support
JCR client connector (Java Content Repository)
JDBC client connector (Database resources)
Google Android support
Google Guice support
Google Web Toolkit port enhancements (HTTP Basic authentication)
Red5 server connector to serve Flash video (RTMPT, MINA-based)
Oracle XDB enhancements

After 1.2, we will then upgrade to a 2.0 version where we will have more freedom to innovate at the API level. We are still hoping to retain most API compatibility with 1.x, but we might more aggressively deprecate code if we need to. The 2.x branch will be based on Java SE 6.0.

For a more detailed roadmap, you can always check the official page at http://www.restlet.org/about/roadmap and browse the listed issues that were updated to reflect the plan above.

If you see a feature you would love to help us with, please jump in and contribute your time and energy to make it happen sooner. If you don't have enough time to share, your company can also help us by funding the development of some features. See our co-development offer at:

http://www.noelios.com/services/development#co-development

Finally, nothing is written in stone, so please express yourself, we are looking forward to your feed-back!

Best regards,
Jérôme Louvel
--
Restlet ~ Founder and Lead developer ~ http://www.restlet.org
Noelios Technologies ~ Co-founder ~ http://www.noelios.com