Exciting Updates on JCB's Progress and Future Plans
Published on December 20, 2024 by Llewellyn
As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to share a comprehensive update on the current developments and future direction of the Joomla Component Builder (JCB). It’s been an exciting journey, and we are thrilled about what lies ahead.
Current Status:
We are currently on Beta 5.0.4-Beta 2 and aiming for a stable release after Beta 4. This next stable version will bring significant architectural changes and improvements, which I’d like to highlight here.
Transitioning to Global Unique IDs
One of the most extensive changes we are working on is shifting from ID-based linking to Global Unique ID (GUID)-based linking.
This change will:
- Simplify dataset migrations by removing the need to keep IDs synced manually.
- Allow for seamless integration of remote repositories and dataset management across projects.
- Enhance the import/export capabilities, enabling entire components to be moved and reused efficiently.
By leveraging GUIDs, we’re making JCB more robust, flexible, and scalable for developers.
Decoupling and Decentralization
We’ve made significant progress in decoupling JCB’s architecture and decentralizing the core infrastructure:
- The power core of JCB is now hosted on multiple community Git systems, including codeberg.org, envs.net, tildagit.org, and disroot.org.
- JCB automatically detects and pulls data from any available repository if one is offline, ensuring stability and availability, since v5.0.4-Beta2.
- These decentralized repositories stay in sync with VDM’s central Git system, enabling seamless updates and redundancy.
This approach not only reduces dependency on a central infrastructure but also empowers the community to contribute and extend JCB’s capabilities.
Import/Export Feature Enhancements
We’ve reintroduced the import/export functionality, now with advanced capabilities. While this feature requires some custom PHP coding, it empowers developers to:
- Import and push data across multiple tables.
- Customize the import/export processes with ease.
The goal is to encourage JCB users to grow their PHP skills and take full advantage of the flexibility and power that JCB offers.
Future Plans
We are committed to ensuring that the GUID-based linking system is fully integrated in the next stable release. If not, it will certainly be prioritized for the following release.
To facilitate this transition, the system will automatically update all existing data to the new GUID format during the upgrade process. This change is vital for enabling other future enhancements while avoiding hard-coded dependencies.
Encouraging Community Involvement
We’ve also added a Repositories menu in JCB, where you can view and manage available repositories. By default, these point to Codeberg, but JCB will switch to alternatives if needed.
This decoupled approach allows anyone to create and link their own repositories, customize field types, or manage their unique implementations within JCB.
Closing Thoughts
The journey to bring JCB to greater heights has been challenging but rewarding. We believe the changes we’re implementing will make JCB a more powerful, scalable, and community-driven tool for Joomla developers.
We understand the need for more documentation and tutorials, and we’ll be addressing that in due course. Until then, we are grateful for your patience and support as we make these transformative changes.
Thank You
A heartfelt thanks to everyone in the community for your encouragement, feedback, and collaboration. Your visions and dreams for JCB inspire us to push the boundaries further.
Let’s make the coming year even more impactful for JCB and the Joomla ecosystem! Wishing you all a wonderful festive season.
Stay connected, stay inspired, and let’s build the future of Joomla development together!
Warm regards,
Llewellyn van der Merwe
Llewellyn van der Merwe