MetacatUI 3.0.0 coming soon

[laurenwalker]

The next major version of MetacatUI is under way and will mainly focus on performance and better dependency management (#2029). Breaking changes will include:

• MetacatUI will require a build process before deployment, whereas previously deployment involved simply moving all the application files to a web accessible directory.
• Any MetacatUI operators who have extended MetacatUI with custom Views, Models, or other modules will need to migrate from using RequireJS to load dependencies (require(..)) to Javascript modules (import ...)
• We may also take this opportunity to upgrade or remove some JS library dependencies. Custom MetacatUI themes/extensions will need to use the new JS library APIs and deprecate use of removed JS libraries.
  - jQuery: Ideally we would remove jQuery altogether since most functionality has been replaced as of JS ES6, but since it is used so widely throughout the app we may just upgrade it for now
  - UnderscoreJS has also been largely replaced with ES6 features, including template literals which could replace Underscore's templating feature. This would also be a major refactor since Underscore is used so much throughout the app, so this is more of a wishlist item if there is time.
  - Boostrap needs to be updated and will have API changes
  - FontAwesome could be updated since their newer versions have new icons and a more modern style. It has API changes.
  - Fancybox is a JS modal window widget that is barely used in the app and could probably be replaced with Bootstrap models or vanilla JS.
  - Possibly others. More details about exactly which JS libraries are changing will be announced as development continues.
• File structure of views, models, and collections will change. As the app has grown, we've realized the need for better organization of files.
• There may be App Config API changes. Again, as the app has grown so has the number of feature flags and application configuration options. We may take this opportunity to rename some App Config attributes to improve organization, readability, and understandability.
• JS Linting / formatting changes to improve readability and development collaboration

Feel free to comment here in this GitHub Discussion with feedback and questions. Is there anything you'd like to see in a major upgrade?