devonfw guide

We are proud to announce the immediate release of devonfw version 3.0 (code named “Fry” during development). This version is the consolidation of Open Source, focused on the major namespace change ever in the platform, removing the OASP references and adopting the new devonfw names for each technical stack or framework.

The new stack names are the following:

The new devon4j version was created directly from the latest devon4j version (3.0.0). Hence it brings all the features and values that devon4j offered. However, the namespace migration was used to do some housekeeping and remove deprecated code as well as reduce dependencies. Therefore your data-access layer will no longer have to depend on any third party except for devon4j as well as of course the JPA. We also have improved the application template that now comes with a modern JSON logging ready for docker and logstash based environments.

To help you upgrading we introduced a migration feature in devcon. This can automatically migrate your code from devon4j (even older versions starting from 2.4.0) to the latest version of devon4j. There might be some small manual changes left to do but 90% of the migration will be done automatically for you.

Besides, the first version of the devonfw plugin for SonarQube has been released. It extends SonarQube with the ability to validate your code according to the devon4j architecture. More details at https://github.com/devonfw/sonar-devon-plugin.

This is the first release that integrates the new devonfw .NET framework, called devon4net, and Xamarin for mobile native development, devon4X. devon4NET and devon4X are the Capgemini standard frameworks for .NET and Xamarin software development. With the two new family members devonfw provides guidance and acceleration for the major software development platforms in our industry. Their interoperability provides you the assurance your multichannel solution will be consistent across web and mobile channels.

“Fry” release contains lots of improvements in our Mr.Checker E2E Testing Framework, including a complete E2E sample inside our reference application My Thai Star. Besides Mr.Checker, we include as an incubator Testar, a test tool (and framework) to test applications at the GUI level whose objective is to solve part of the maintenance problem affecting tests by automatically generating test cases based on a structure that is automatically derived from the GUI. Testar is not included to replace Mr.Checker but rather to provide development teams with a series of interesting options which go beyond what Mr.Checker already provides.

Apart from Mr.Checker, engagements can now use Testar as an extra option for testing. This is a tool that enables the automated system testing of desktop, web and mobile applications at the GUI level. Testar has been added as an incubator to the platform awaiting further development during 2019.

The new incubator for node.js, called devon4node, has been included and implemented in several internal projects. This incubator is based on the Nest framework https://www.nestjs.com/. Nest is a framework for building efficient, scalable Node.js server-side applications. It uses progressive JavaScript, is built with TypeScript (preserves compatibility with pure JavaScript) and combines elements of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), FP (Functional Programming), and FRP (Functional Reactive Programming). Under the hood, Nest makes use of Express, but also provides compatibility with a wide range of other libraries (e.g. Fastify). This allows for easy use of the myriad third-party plugins which are available.

In order to facilitate the utilization of Microsoft Visual Studio Code in devonfw, we have developed and included the new devonfw Platform Extension Pack with lots of features to develop and test applications with this IDE in languages and frameworks such as TypeScript, JavaScript, .NET, Java, Rust, C++ and many more. More information at https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=devonfw.devonfw-extension-pack. Also, you can contribute to this extension in this GitHub repository https://github.com/devonfw/devonfw-extension-pack-vscode.

There is a whole range of new features and improvements which can be seen in that light. The My Thai Star sample app has now been upgraded to devon4j and devon4ng, a new devon4node backend implementation has been included that is seamless interchangeable, an E2E MrChecker sample project, CICD and deployment scripts and lots of bugs have been fixed.

Last but not least, the projects wikis and the devonfw Guide has once again been updated accordingly before the big refactor that will be addressed in the following release in 2019.