Perl 6 project plan / roadmap

Perl 6 Project Plan / Roadmap

   Nathan Torkington
   
   Kirrily Robert
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Introduction

   This document outlines the project plan or "roadmap" for Perl 6
   development, as developed by the Perl 6 project manager, Nathan
   Torkington <[email protected]>. The document itself is maintained by
   Kirrily Robert <[email protected]>. Discussion of this document
   should be directed to the Perl 6 bootstrap mailing list
   (<[email protected]>) or its successor.
   
   This document is available from
   http://infotrope.net/opensource/software/perl6/ in a variety of
   formats.
   
   The document you are current reading has the CVS Id tag:
   
   $Id: plan.sgml,v 1.1 2000/08/04 05:48:36 skud Exp $
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Goals

   Perl 6 will be a complete rewrite of Perl by the Perl community.
   
   Perl 6 will incorporate improvements to the language and to the
   internal API.
   
   The Perl 6 development process will be well managed, clearly
   understood by all involved, and open to any member of the Perl
   community who wishes to contribute.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Steps

    1. Structure the community. This is an ongoing activity, but we need
       an initial structure to take the next step.
          + initial mailing lists with chairs, charters, etc
          + initial rules for growth and control of mailing lists
          + initial RFC structure
    2. Brainstorming.
          + Identify issues, requirements, or wishes to use as topics for
            RFCs. We need to seek the input of:
               o Perl 5 developers
               o Perl users (sysadmins, web developers, application
                 developers, CPAN authors...)
               o Vendors or distributors of Perl
               o Other interested parties
          + Draft RFCs
          + Discuss and redraft RFCs
    3. Design. Larry evaluates the RFCs and puts them into the melting
       pot of his mind, to come up with a design specification for Perl
       6.
    4. Develop structure for the implementation process. Earlier stages
       were mostly talk; this stage is mostly code. Managing coding is
       different from managing talking. We need to address the following
       issues:
          + initial mailing lists/working groups with goals and leaders
          + initial rules for growth and control of lists and tasks
          + QA processes
          + Change management processes
          + Documentation processes
    5. Analysis. Flesh out the design into hard requirements and
       specifications. When specification depends on implementation, then
       a subgroup can prototype implementations to aid this.
    6. Implementation, which breaks down into the following general areas
       of work:
          + Coding of the Perl 6 core
          + Coding of the standard library
          + Quality assurance and testing
          + Change management
          + Documentation
    7. Alpha release
    8. Beta release
    9. Liaison with vendors wrt distribution of Perl 6
   10. Final release
   11. Ongoing maintenance and improvement, which consists of similar
       areas to implementation (above)
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Timeline

   Table 1. Perl 6 timeline
   Step Start date End date Who Deliverables
   Project plan/roadmap July 18th, 2000 August 4th, 2000 Project manager,
   in consultation with community Project plan document
   Initial working group/mailing list structure July 18th, 2000 August
   4th, 2000 Project manager, in consultation with community Clear
   description of structure; mailing lists; mailing list archives
   Brainstorming July 18th, 2000 September 30th, 2000 Perl 6 community
   Library of RFCs
   Preliminary design and specification October 1st, 2000 October 14th,
   2000 Larry Preliminary language specification document
   Feedback on preliminary design October 14th, 2000 October 27th, 2000
   Perl 6 community Clear, concise emails to the appropriate place
   Final design and language specification October 14th, 2000 October
   27th, 2000 Larry Final language specification document
   Development team structure October 1st, 2000 October 27th, 2000
   Project manager, in consultation with Perl 6 community Clear
   description of structure; mailing lists; mailing list archives
   Detailed design analysis October 28th, 2000 December 31st, 2000 Perl 6
   developers Detailed design documents for specific areas of work;
   prototype implementations (where appropriate)
   Quality assurance processes July 25th, 2000 ??? SCHWERN ??? ???
   SCHWERN ??? QA process description document
   Change management processes October 28th, 2000 December 31st, 2000
   Perl 6 developers CM process description document
   Documentation management processes October 28th, 2000 December 31st,
   2000 Perl 6 developers Documentation plan
   Implementation -- alpha release January 1st, 2001 end June 2001 Perl 6
   developers Alpha release for demonstration at TPC
   Implementation -- beta release Post-TPC 5.0 (July 2001) ??? Perl 6
   developers Beta release; documentation
   Vendor liaison ??? ??? Perl 6 vendor contacts Contacts for each
   vendor; agreements to package Perl 6; plans for QA for vendor-packaged
   distributions
   Implementation -- final release ??? ??? Perl 6 developers Final
   release; documentation