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TinyTools Roadmap

This document outlines the planned features, improvements, and direction for LowlandTech.TinyTools.

Philosophy: TinyTools stays tiny by design. We prioritize simplicity, performance, and zero dependencies over feature bloat.

Current Version: 2026.1.3

Status: ? Stable
Released: January 2026

Core Features

  • ? Simple string interpolation ({PropertyName})
  • ? Template engine with control flow (@if, @foreach)
  • ? Variable interpolation (${Context.xxx})
  • ? Null coalescing (${expr ?? "default"})
  • ? Pipe helpers (string, date, number, collection)
  • ? Hierarchical execution context
  • ? Template services (extensibility)
  • ? IoC/DI integration support
  • ? .NET 8, 9, 10 support

Version 2026.2.0 (Q2 2026)

Theme: Enhanced Developer Experience

Planned Features

?? Template Validation

  • Pre-render validation - Catch syntax errors before rendering
  • Template analysis - Detect unused variables, missing properties
  • Type-safe templates - Optional strongly-typed template compilation
// Validate template syntax
var errors = engine.Validate(template);
if (errors.Any())
{
    foreach (var error in errors)
        Console.WriteLine($"Line {error.Line}: {error.Message}");
}

?? Template Caching

  • Compiled template cache - Parse once, render many times
  • Performance boost - 10-50x faster for repeated renders
// Cache compiled template
var compiledTemplate = engine.Compile(template);

// Render many times (fast!)
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
    var result = compiledTemplate.Render(context);
}

?? Improved Error Messages

  • Line/column information - Pinpoint errors in templates
  • Syntax highlighting in error messages (console/terminal)
  • Helpful suggestions for common mistakes

?? Additional Pipe Helpers

  • slice:start,end - Extract substring by index
  • match:pattern - Regex matching
  • contains:value - Check if string/collection contains value
  • split:separator - Split string into array

Performance Improvements

  • ? 20% faster variable resolution
  • ? Reduce allocations in tight loops
  • ? Optimize pipe helper chaining

Version 2026.3.0 (Q3 2026)

Theme: Advanced Templating

Planned Features

?? Template Includes/Partials

  • Reusable template fragments
  • Nested templates with isolated contexts
var template = """
    @include("header.tmpl")
    
    Content here
    
    @include("footer.tmpl")
    """;

?? Template Macros/Functions

  • Define reusable blocks within templates
  • Parameters and return values
var template = """
    @macro FormatUser(user)
        ${user.FirstName} ${user.LastName} (${user.Email})
    @endmacro
    
    @foreach (var u in Context.Users)
        @FormatUser(u)
    @endforeach
    """;

?? Async Template Services

  • Support async transformations
  • Useful for API calls, database lookups
context.RegisterServiceAsync("translate", 
    async input => await translationService.TranslateAsync(input));

var template = "${Context.Services('translate')('Hello')}";

?? Enhanced Collection Helpers

  • where:condition - Filter collections
  • orderby:property - Sort collections
  • groupby:property - Group collections
  • distinct - Remove duplicates

Version 2026.4.0 (Q4 2026)

Theme: Ecosystem & Tooling

Planned Features

?? Visual Studio Extension

  • Syntax highlighting for .tmpl files
  • IntelliSense for context properties
  • Live preview of template output
  • Error highlighting in templates

?? Source Generator Templates

  • Compile templates into C# code at build time
  • Type-safe, zero-runtime overhead
  • Perfect for embedded templates
// Template file: EmailTemplate.tmpl
// Generated: EmailTemplate.g.cs with type-safe methods

var email = EmailTemplate.Render(new { Name = "John", Order = "12345" });

?? Template Library/Registry

  • NuGet packages with pre-built templates
  • Community templates for common scenarios
  • Template discovery and reuse

?? CLI Tool

  • Render templates from command line
  • Watch mode for development
  • Batch processing
dotnet tinytools render --template email.tmpl --data data.json --output email.txt
dotnet tinytools watch --template *.tmpl

Future Considerations (2027+)

Under Consideration

?? Localization/Internationalization

  • Built-in i18n support
  • Resource file integration

?? Template Debugging

  • Breakpoints in templates
  • Step-through execution
  • Variable inspection

?? Performance Mode

  • Unsafe code for extreme performance
  • Memory pooling and recycling
  • SIMD optimizations where applicable

?? Alternative Syntax Modes

  • Mustache-style {{variable}}
  • Liquid-style {{ variable | filter }}
  • Custom delimiter configuration

What We Won't Do

To keep TinyTools tiny, we explicitly won't add:

? HTML/View Rendering - Use Razor for that
? JavaScript Execution - Use a JavaScript engine
? Heavy Dependencies - Stays lightweight
? Complex DSL - Keep it simple and readable
? Everything to Everyone - Focus on core use cases

Breaking Changes Policy

Semantic Versioning

  • YEAR.MINOR.PATCH format (e.g., 2026.1.3)
  • Breaking changes only in YEAR increments
  • MINOR versions add features, maintain compatibility
  • PATCH versions fix bugs only

Deprecation Process

  1. Mark as obsolete with warning
  2. Keep for one YEAR (e.g., 2026.x)
  3. Remove in next YEAR (e.g., 2027.0)
  4. Document in changelog and migration guide

Open Issues & Bug Tracker

Active Issues

Track all open issues on GitHub: View All Issues

?? Bugs

  • #10 - Operator precedence bug ALREADY FIXED ?
  • #11 - @foreach iterates over string characters FIXED ?
  • #12 - Floating-point equality precision FIXED ?

? Enhancements

  • No open enhancement requests currently tracked

?? Documentation

  • No open documentation issues currently tracked

? Questions

  • No open questions currently tracked

Note: This section is manually updated. For the most current list, visit the GitHub Issues page.

Community Requests

Want to influence the roadmap? We welcome:

Top Community Requests

  1. Template validation (? Planned for 2026.2)
  2. Template caching (? Planned for 2026.2)
  3. Better error messages (? Planned for 2026.2)
  4. Visual Studio extension (? Planned for 2026.4)
  5. Template includes (Under consideration)

Release Cadence

  • Quarterly releases (4 per year)
  • Patch releases as needed for critical bugs
  • Preview releases for early feedback
  • LTS support for previous YEAR versions (1 year)

Version Support Matrix

Version Released End of Support Status
2026.x Jan 2026 Dec 2027 ? Current
2025.x Jan 2025 Dec 2026 ?? Maintenance
2024.x Jan 2024 Dec 2025 ? End of Life

Contributing to the Roadmap

This roadmap is a living document. If you have ideas, suggestions, or feedback:

  1. Open a discussion on GitHub
  2. Vote on features using ?? reactions
  3. Share your use cases to help us prioritize
  4. Contribute code to help ship features faster

Last Updated: January 2026
Next Review: April 2026