| # Technical values and their priorities |
| |
| The project uses these technical values to establish priorities and guide |
| collaboration. |
| |
| These are the shared values as of this writing and will |
| evolve. We hope they are useful to people new |
| to the project in order to better understand which contributions |
| will be aligned with the current direction and as thinking |
| points when trading off between conflicting goals. |
| |
| The factors influencing every discussion/decision are |
| different and priority 1 does not always trump priority 2 |
| and so on. |
| |
| ## Values and priority level |
| |
| * Priority 1 - Developer experience |
| * Priority 2 - Stability |
| * Priority 3 - Operational qualities |
| * Priority 4 - Node.js maintainer experience |
| * Priority 5 - Up to date technology and APIs |
| |
| ## Value descriptions |
| |
| ### 1 - Developer experience |
| |
| We value ensuring that developers are productive and enjoy developing |
| with Node.js. Some key elements of this include: |
| |
| * Approachability (both technical and community) |
| * Great documentation |
| * Bundling friction-reducing APIs and components, even though |
| they could be provided externally |
| * Compatibility and interoperability with browsers and other JavaScript |
| environments so that as much code as possible runs as is both in Node.js and |
| in the other environments |
| * Enabling/supporting external packages to ensure overall developer experience |
| |
| ### 2 - Stability |
| |
| Whenever possible, we seek to ensure that working code continues to work. To |
| keep the trust of developers and users, we value stability. |
| Some key elements of this include: |
| |
| * Backward compatibility |
| * Stable releases on a predictable schedule |
| * A strong safety net, including testing how changes |
| in Node.js affect popular packages |
| * Careful consideration of what goes into Long Term Support (LTS) releases |
| |
| ### 3 - Operational qualities |
| |
| We value keeping Node.js safe, performant, and lightweight. |
| We value enabling the ability to investigate and debug problems in |
| development and production. Some key elements of this include: |
| |
| * High throughput (speed) |
| * Fast startup |
| * Small binary size |
| * Small memory footprint |
| * High-quality debugging tools |
| * Robust diagnostic tools (profilers, etc.) |
| * Responsible security practices |
| |
| ### 4 - Node.js maintainer experience |
| |
| We value the productivity and happiness of the Node.js maintainers. |
| Some key elements of this include: |
| |
| * Approachability of the codebase |
| * Good internal documentation and guides |
| * Low-friction policies and processes |
| * Good CI and tooling to make maintainers productive |
| |
| ### 5 - Up to date technology and APIs |
| |
| We value providing developers with modern APIs and technologies |
| following existing standards whenever possible. |
| Some key elements of this include: |
| |
| * Participating in standards work and organizations |
| * Web API compatibility |
| * Supporting and exposing new technologies and standards through early adoption |
