Cloud Services/Developer Services/compatibility scanner

The compatibility scanner uses doiuse to inform the developer what browser limitations their CSS may have.

Compatibility linter (discord) resources

• github: https://github.com/mdn/discord
• hook: http://mdn-discord.herokuapp.com/hook

Rationale

• Common pain point for developers, costing time in development and QA.
• Often deprioritized, forcing limited focus on specific browsers.
• Hard for developers to maintain compatibility as browsers are updated (and introduced).

MVP

• Prototype: GitHub hook + Firefox DevTools add-on
• Possible future phases: code editor plugin that automatically reports browser compatibility while coding CSS
  • this is a broad target to hit, but providing the service could encourage editor fans to write their own editor-specific plugin
  • powering both plugins (editor and browser) is a code linter that parses CSS code, matches syntax to a database of CSS features' browser compatibility (doiuse), and reports compatibility issues
  • reporting/metrics TBD

Release roadmap

1. Firefox add-on and github webhook
2. service open to contributor editor-specific plugins

Market comparisons

• Other options are expensive and rely on VMs
  • we can reduce that kind of load
  • linting is cheaper and lighter
    • original tie-in to MDN Pro concept included a paid tier (similar to requires.io)

KPIs

(Key: Alpha|Final)

For add-on:

• Acquisition: Installation|Installation
• Activation: TBD|TBD
• Retention: TBD|TBD
• Referral: TBD|TBD

For GitHub hook:

• Acquisition: Traffic|Traffic
• Activation: Webhook installs|Webhook installs
• Retention: Webhook users|Engaged usage
• Referral: Social shares|TBD