Michael Dawson fe293e914c doc: add technical values document

As part of the [next-10](https://github.com/nodejs/next-10) we found
we needed to capture the project's technical values/priorities as
a starting point before discussing key technologies/areas for the
next 10 years of Node.js

This is a first cut that the team put together. The discussion
took place in a few meetings as well as this
[PR](https://github.com/nodejs/next-10/pull/11). We believe the doc
should live in the core node repository as it is intended to
reflect the agreement of the collaborator base.

I think this is a good starting point but we also
acknowledge that only a small subset of the Node.js collaborators
have participated/commented so far. This PR should be a good
way to get additional review/input from the larger set
of Node.js collaborators.

Signed-off-by: Michael Dawson <mdawson@devrus.com>

PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/35145
Reviewed-By: Christopher Hiller <boneskull@boneskull.com>
Reviewed-By: Trivikram Kamat <trivikr.dev@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Richard Lau <riclau@uk.ibm.com>
Reviewed-By: Beth Griggs <Bethany.Griggs@uk.ibm.com>
Reviewed-By: Anto Aravinth <anto.aravinth.cse@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Daijiro Wachi <daijiro.wachi@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Stephen Belanger <admin@stephenbelanger.com>
Reviewed-By: Ruy Adorno <ruyadorno@github.com>
Reviewed-By: Andrey Pechkurov <apechkurov@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Gireesh Punathil <gpunathi@in.ibm.com>
Reviewed-By: Ash Cripps <acripps@redhat.com>
Reviewed-By: Ben Coe <bencoe@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Rich Trott <rtrott@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Tobias Nießen <tniessen@tnie.de>
Reviewed-By: Joyee Cheung <joyeec9h3@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Pranshu Srivastava <rexagod@gmail.com>

2020-09-17 13:25:59 -04:00

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Technical values and priorities

The project uses these technical values to establish priorities and guide collaboration.

Values and priority level

Priority 1 - Developer experience
Priority 2 - Stability
Priority 3 - Operational qualities
Priority 4 - Node.js maintainer experience
Priority 5 - Up to date Technology and APIs

Value descriptions

1 - Developer experience

We value ensuring that developers are productive and enjoy developing with Node.js. Some key elements of this include:

Approachability (both technical and community)
Great documentation
Bundling friction-reducing APIs and components, even though they could be provided externally
Enabling/supporting external packages to ensure overall developer experience

2 - Stability

Whenever possible, we seek to insure that currently-working code continues to work. We seek to keep the trust of developers and end-users. Therefore, we value stability. Some key elements of this include:

Backwards compatibility
Stable releases on a predictable schedule
A strong safety net, including testing how changes in Node.js affect popular packages
Careful consideration of what goes into long term support (LTS) releases

3 - Operational qualities

We value keeping Node.js safe, performant, and lightweight. We value enabling the ability to investigate and debug problems in development and production. Some key elements of this include:

High throughput (speed)
Fast startup
Small binary size
Small memory footprint
High-quality debugging tools
Robust diagnostic tools (profilers, etc.)
Responsible security practices

4 - Node.js maintainer experience

We value the productivity and happiness of the Node.js maintainers. Some key elements of this include:

Approachability of the codebase
Good internal documentation and guides
Low-friction policies and processes
Good CI and tooling to make maintainers productive

5 - Up to date Technology and APIs

We value providing developers with modern APIs and technologies following existing standards whenever possible. Some key elements of this include:

Participating in standards work and organizations
Web API compatibility
Supporting and exposing new technologies and standards through early adoption

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