Road map

README.md

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Try out one of the demo sites: [C++][cpp], [Rust][rust], [D][d] or [Go][go].
 [d]: https://d.godbolt.org/ "Compiler Explorer for D"
 [go]: https://go.godbolt.org/ "Compiler Explorer for Go"
 
-### Developing
+### Developing or running a local instance
 
 Compiler Explorer is written in node.js.
 
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ The config system leaves a lot to be desired, I'm working on porting [CCS](https
 Feel free to raise an issue on [github](https://github.com/mattgodbolt/compiler-explorer/issues) or
 [email me directly](mailto:matt@godbolt.org) for more help.
 
+There's now a [Road map](Roadmap.md) that gives a little insight into future plans for Compiler Explorer.
+
 ### Credits
 
 Compiler Explorer is maintained by [Matt Godbolt](http://xania.org). Multiple compiler and difference view was

Roadmap.md

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+# Compiler Explorer Road Map
+
+CE was started in 2012 to serve my needs at [my company](http:/drw.com) in terms of showing how
+C++ constructs translated to assembly code. It started out as a `tmux` session with `vi` running in one
+pane and `watch gcc -S foo.cc -o -` running in the other. Since those days it's now a public website
+serving the C++, Rust, Go and D communities and performs around 20,000 compilations per day.
+
+This document is an attempt to capture thoughts on the future direction of Compiler Explorer.
+
+## Areas to improve
+
+### Mobile client support
+
+CE's UI doesn't work well with mobile clients. The editor doesn't work well on many mobile clients, and the
+layout doesn't lend itself well to small screens.
+
+Ideas for improving mobile support include automatically folding up all the panes into a single tab upon
+detection of a mobile client. This would require a bunch of fixes in the 
+underlying [UI library](http://golden-layout.com) as this doesn't properly work with mobile and tabs.
+
+Perhaps a read-only simplified view would work better: the main reason one brings up the CE website is to
+look at tweeted links rather than author content.
+
+### UI improvements
+
+The UI has a number of things that need improving:
+
+* Multiple editor windows
+* Saving and restoring from browser-local storage
+* Handling the loss of data if one has a work-in-progress CE window open and then clicks another CE link.
+
+### Diff view
+
+A frequently requested feature is to be able to diff output. A large patch was provided by @Voxelf which
+helped spur on the development of the new UI, but the diff view he created has yet to be merged. There's
+a possibility that moving to the [Monaco](https://microsoft.github.io/monaco-editor/) editor will not only
+give a better editing experience, but also bring pretty much free diff windows out of the box.
+
+### Execution support
+
+Another big ticket item is to allow executing of the user's code. This is fraught with security issues, and
+brings up a number of UI and API considerations. Compiling code every time to execute with different params
+seems wasteful, so caching seems good; but in a multi-instance setup a shared cache woudl be needed. Perhaps
+a backend system that caches the executables (and makes them downloadable; at least for some compilers where
+license allows), and stores the binaries in ephemeral, shared storage. This same backend system could also 
+be used to store code, and could be part of a whole new way of sending and sharing code (if made permanent
+storage).
+
+### Support more compilers
+
+Most of the open tickets are to do with adding new compilers, or fixing issues with existing compilers.
+Continuing to add more compilers and make it easier for others to submit PRs to add new compilers is
+very important.
+
+## Tensions
+
+There's an inherent tension between the standalone, run-it-yourself version of CE and the scalable, AWS-backed
+CE instance. Care must be taken to keep the standalone version usable, not least as the majority of CE's
+development is done on a laptop during a commute (with little or no internet access).
+
+## Priorities
+
+Above all, the priority is to keep the main CE site up, stable and dependable. After that, features are
+added honestly in the order that is most useful and interesting to the primary developer (Matt Godbolt).
+
+## Non-goals
+
+CE will remain ad-free, open-source and non-commercial. There's no plans at all to add "freemium" content.
+
+## 2017 goals
+
+With all this in mind, the tentative goals for 2017 are:
+
+* Move to the Monaco editor
+  * Implement diff view
+* Come up with a decent secure solution for code execution
+* Design an API that can handle remote code execution and download needs
+* Implement remote execution UIs
+
+These goals will be refined as time ticks on.