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  68   <h1>
  69   Mono Project Roadmap
  70   <br>
  71   <font size=1>Miguel de Icaza (miguel@ximian.com)</font>
  72   </h1>
  73   <p>
  74 </center>
  75
  76 <i>Last update: Jan 18th, 2004</i>
  77
  78 <h3>Introduction</h3>
  79
  80         <p>This document describes the high-level roadmap for <a
  81         href="http://www.go-mono.com">Mono</a>.
  82
  83         <p>The Mono project started in 2001 as an effort to implement
  84         the .NET Framework to Unix.  To bring both the new programming
  85         model based on the Common Language Infrastructure and C# as
  86         well as helping people migrate their existing knowledge and
  87         applications to Unix. Mono today supports a wide variety of
  88         operating systems, CPUs and a large chunk of the functionality
  89         available in the .NET Framework.
  90
  91         <p>At the October 2003 PDC conference a number of new
  92         technologies were announced.  From the Mono release schedule
  93         perspective, we should think about these technologies from
  94         their release time standpoint, and the features that must be
  95         supported.
  96
  97         <p>This document outlines the roadmap for the Mono project
  98         from my perspective: what we can effectively deliver on the
  99         dates outlined.  Since Mono is a large open source project,
 100         things might change and new features can be incorporated
 101         into the plan if external sources devote enough attention to
 102         those problems.
 103
 104         <p>This is the timeline:
 105         <p>
 106         <center>
 107         <img src="roadmap.png">
 108         </center>
 109
 110 <h3>Background</h3>
 111
 112         <p>So far Microsoft has published two versions of the .NET
 113         Framework: 1.0 and 1.1, the later with incremental updates to
 114         the changes in 1.0
 115
 116         <p>The Mono project has been tracking some of the
 117         improvements available in those two releases, some of the
 118         highlights of our work so far are:
 119
 120         <ul>
 121                 <li> Core: mscorlib, System, System.Security and
 122                 System.XML assemblies.
 123
 124                 <li> ADO.NET: System.Data and various other database
 125                 providers.
 126
 127                 <li> ASP.NET: WebForms and Web Services are
 128                 supported.  Work on WSE1/WSE2 has also started.
 129
 130                 <li> Compilers: C#, VB.NET and various command line tools
 131                 that are part of the SDK.
 132
 133                 <li> Open Source, Unix and Gnome specific libraries.
 134         </ul>
 135
 136         <p>Other components like Windows.Forms, Directory.Services,
 137         Enterprise Services and JScript are being developed but are not
 138         as mature as the other components but are under development by
 139         various people.
 140
 141         <p>Some other smaller and less used components do not have yet
 142         a Mono equivalent (System.Management, System.Drawing.Design).
 143
 144 <h3>Mono release strategy</h3>
 145
 146         <p>The levels of maturity of Mono fluctuate depending on the
 147         development effort we have put into it, and the use we have
 148         given to them.  For example, the virtual machine and the C#
 149         compiler very mature, while less commonly used functionality
 150         in Mono like Windows.Forms or VB.NET are still under heavy
 151         development.
 152
 153         <p>Our strategy is to release the mature components as Mono
 154         1.0, and have upcoming versions of Mono add extra
 155         functionality.
 156
 157 <h3>Mono 1.0 goals</h3>
 158
 159         <p>The Mono 1.0 release would include the following
 160         components:
 161
 162         <ul>
 163                 <li>C# compiler.
 164
 165                 <li>VM, with JIT and pre-compiler.
 166
 167                 <li>IL assembler, disassembler.
 168
 169                 <li>Development and security tools.
 170
 171                 <li>Core libraries: mscorlib, System, System.XML.
 172
 173                 <li>System.Data and Mono database providers.
 174
 175                 <li>System.Web: Web applications platform and Apache
 176                 integration module.
 177
 178                 <li>System.Web.Services: client and server support.
 179
 180                 <li>System.Drawing.
 181
 182                 <li>System.DirectoryServices
 183
 184                 <li>JIT support: x86, SPARC and PPC architectures
 185                 (interpreter available for other architectures).
 186
 187                 <li>ECMA profiles: special build options to build
 188                 Mono as an implementation of the various ECMA profiles
 189                 will be available.
 190
 191                 <li>Java integration through IKVM.
 192
 193                 <li>Embedding interface for the runtime.
 194         </ul>
 195
 196         <p>Packaging:
 197
 198         <ul>
 199                 <li>mono: will contain the above features implementing
 200                 the .NET 1.1 API.
 201
 202                 <li>mono-1.0-compat: Will include a build of the
 203                 libraries with the .NET 1.0 API, this is a
 204                 compatibility build for people running .NET 1.0
 205                 applications.
 206
 207                 <li>mono-unstable: Will contain a snapshot of the
 208                 other technologies under development for developer's
 209                 convenience, but will be unsupported at this time.
 210                 These include the Generics edition of the C#
 211                 compiler.
 212
 213                 <li>mono-ecma: A build that only includes the ECMA
 214                 components.
 215         </ul>
 216
 217         <p>Release target: Q2/2004.
 218
 219         <p>Bug fix releases would be done on a monthly basis.
 220
 221         <p>For a detailed list, see the <a
 222         href="mono-1.0.html">mono-1.0 feature list.</a>
 223
 224 <h3>Microsoft's Whidbey</h3>
 225
 226         <p>To understand post 1.0 editions of Mono, it is important to
 227         put it into perspective with the Microsoft Whidbey product, to
 228         be released in 2004.
 229
 230         <p>The new features in the Whidbey release of the .NET Framework
 231         include:
 232
 233         <ul>
 234                 <li><b>Generic types</b><br>
 235                 These introduce changes to the compiler, runtime and
 236                 class libraries.
 237
 238                 <li><b>ASP.NET 2</b><br>
 239                 Many tools to simplify web application development:
 240                 Master pages, new controls for common operations,
 241                 personalization and themes.
 242
 243                 <li><b>Remoting</b><br>
 244                 New security channels and version-resistant remoting
 245                 (good news in the interop department).
 246
 247                 <li><b>XML</b><br>
 248                 XQuery debuts on this release as well as an improved
 249                 XmlDocument system based on XPath: XPathDocument.
 250
 251                 <li><b>Networking</b><br>
 252                 FTP client, Ssl streams.
 253
 254                 <li><b>Console and Serial ports:</b></br>
 255                 Console terminal input/output is available as well as
 256                 serial port handling.
 257
 258                 <li><b>Windows.Forms</b><br>
 259                 Layout containers finally appeared on Windows.Forms as
 260                 well as various new controls.
 261
 262                 <li><b>ObjectSpaces</b><br>
 263                 An API for simpler data-base access.
 264         </ul>
 265
 266 <h3>Mono 1.2</h3>
 267
 268         <p>The Mono team is developing in parallel some features that
 269         wont make it to the 1.0 release in stable form.  These will be
 270         the foundation for the 1.2 release.  The focus of this release
 271         is to track the core API for the .NET Framework 1.2, but
 272         again, only a subset of the total framework will be
 273         available.
 274
 275         <p>Mostly, Mono 1.2 consists of components that were not
 276         stable enough for Mono 1.0, but that would be mature at this
 277         point, plus the incorporation of some new features from
 278         Whidbey.  In addition to the Mono 1.0 components, this release
 279         will add:
 280
 281         <ul>
 282                 <li>Generic types support: C# compiler, execution
 283                 system and core class libraries.
 284
 285                 <li>ASP.NET 2.0 improvements.
 286
 287                 <li>Remoting improvements from Whidbey.
 288
 289                 <li>System.XML: simpler improvements from Whidbey,
 290                 lacking the large additions (XQuery for example).
 291
 292                 <li>Console and Serial ports support.
 293
 294                 <li>New compilers: VB.NET and JScript support.
 295
 296                 <li>WSE1/WSE2 implementations.
 297
 298                 <li>System.Windows.Forms officially debuts with .NET
 299                 1.0 API;  1.2 API available as an unstable addition.
 300         </ul>
 301
 302         <p>This release will by default provide .NET 1.2 APIs, but
 303         compatibility libraries for 1.0 and 1.1 will be distributed in
 304         the mono-compat package.  The unstable components of Mono will
 305         be distributed on the `mono-unstable' package, the libraries
 306         in this release will be unsupported.
 307
 308         <p>Release target: Q4/2004.
 309
 310 <h3>Mono 1.4</h3>
 311
 312         <p>A refresh update on the Mono 1.2 release containing the
 313         missing components from the previous release and complete any
 314         under performing pieces.  Updates to System.Xml, ASP.NET and
 315         Windows.Forms to match the .NET 1.2 API.
 316
 317         <p>Release target: Q2/2005.
 318
 319 <h3>Peer projects</h3>
 320
 321         <p>Other projects like the debugger, the documentation
 322         browser, Java integration through IKVM and Gtk# will remain on
 323         their own schedules.  This page will be updated to contain
 324         that information when it becomes available.
 325
 326 <h3>Unscheduled activities</h3>
 327
 328         <p>A missing component of Mono is the Code Access Security
 329         (CAS).  This functionality is not needed in today's Mono as
 330         currently Mono is being used to run fully trusted
 331         applications, and we are not using it on embedded scenarios
 332         where assemblies would have different trust levels.
 333
 334         <p>This is an important component, but requires three major
 335         pieces of work:
 336
 337         <ul>
 338                 <li>Runtime support for implementing the security
 339                 demands.
 340
 341                 <li>A guidelines document outlining what and where
 342                 must have security demands in place.
 343
 344                 <li>A full audit of our class libraries: method by
 345                 method
 346         </ul>
 347
 348         <p>All of these are major pieces of work, and we currently
 349         have no plans to implement any of those.  A volunteer effort might be
 350         able to help with the runtime requirements and the document,
 351         but until those are done, we are unlikely to start doing any
 352         work on the actual class library audit and instrumentation.
 353
 354 <h3>Mono and WinFX: 2006</h3>
 355
 356         <p>WinFX is the name given to the new set of libraries that
 357         makes up .NET in the Longhorn operating system: the existing
 358         .NET set of class libraries, plus the new functionality
 359         available in the OS.
 360
 361         <p>WinFX adds things like storage facilities (WinFS), a
 362         new versatile communications stack (Indigo) and a new
 363         eye-candy packed GUI programming system (Avalon).
 364
 365         <p>Although WinFS, Avalon and Indigo are very exciting
 366         components, at this time it is too early to tell when those
 367         components will be available for Mono.  Open source developers
 368         will very likely start work on these, but since they are still
 369         far from being officially released, they are not in the radar
 370         at this point.
 371
 372 <h3>Unsupported technologies</h3>
 373
 374         <p>Some technologies are very hard to implement or are being
 375         phased out by components in the Longhorn time frame.  In some
 376         cases, we feel that they are not crucial to the future of the
 377         open source desktop.
 378
 379         <p>System.EnterpriseServices and System.Management come to
 380         mind, and we are unlikely to put any resources into the task.
 381         We would gladly host the code if someone cares to implement
 382         it, but they would likely remain unsupported features of Mono.
 383
 384 <h3>Mono Developer Strategy</h3>
 385
 386         <p>Mono Developers should read the <a
 387         href="mono-hacking-roadmap.html">Mono Hacking Roadmap</a>
 388
 389 <h3>Comments</h3>
 390
 391         <p>Feel free to send your comments or questions the roadmap to
 392         <a href="mailto:miguel@ximian.com">miguel@ximian.com</a>
 393
 394
 395 <p>
 396 <i>Last Updated: Nov 1st, 2003</i>