Crazy Experimentation Fund

Categories: Budget idea Created by Claus Due
Expert Knowledge / Workshops

What is your idea about?

This is rather a long-shot but perhaps there may be interest in sponsoring some of the more "out there" experiments I (Claus Due) have been doing with TYPO3. The research I do, when I do it, is as much about possibly finding solutions as it is about learning where in TYPO3 we have components that may, for example, be served by existing and more popular components. I've previously looked at, and would like to return to, the following subjects:

* The authentication layer being replaced with SF auth
* The caching layer being replaced with Doctrine cache (plus a TYPO3-specific adaptation for PHP-class caches)
* The PageRenderer logic becoming a separate component with an API that allows creating other types of PageRenderers, e.g. one that is far better integrated with Fluid.
* The configuration layer possibly being replaced with a storage-agnostic configuration manager so we can make the decisions about yaml vs. ts vs. php vs. json vs. whatever, an arbitrary one that gets based on what best suits the project.
* A true API for "table configuration" that has PHP components to replace the excessive arrays.
* In general, more segmentation of the core features and more APIs that TYPO3 itself uses but allows replacing; whenever possible, opting for standardised or more popular third-party options (such as Doctrine's interface logic for caches).

And more. So, so much more.

The idea being to possibly "buy me free" from my daytime work for enough time to follow such concepts home. In essence, somehow providing X "chunks" of about a week's worth of work that is in my experience required to research and usually provide a basic functioning solution that has a clear vision for how it can be refined and finally implemented.

What is the potential impact of your idea?

When the experiments work: a slimmer TYPO3 that uses more standards and more standard libraries. And when they don't immediately work, a precise knowledge about what would be broken and why that can then be evaluated to determine if the outcome is worth the breakage.

I should also note that I do have in-progress work for some of the areas mentioned about that would be easy to pick up again, e.g. the Doctrine caches, TCA API and page-renderer ideas. Those may be far cheaper with much bang for the buck to do for a start, with a minimal budget attached.

Approximate Funds needed

€10,000 - €25,000

Recommendation of the Budget Committee: The budget committee supports this idea. But it needs good coordination with the core team.