Welcoming Dynalite to OpenJS Foundation Architect

[ryanblock]

We are very stoked to welcome the Dynalite project to Architect!

First, we'd like to thank Michael Hart (@mhart) not only for all the work he did to build such an amazing local DynamoDB emulator, but for truly embodying the open source spirit and allowing us the opportunity to take over development of this great tool. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Why we're taking on Dynalite

For those not yet familiar with Architect, we created it in 2017 to help folks build Functional Web Apps (FWAs) on AWS. DynamoDB has always been a critical component of Architect apps, and Architect's approach is to provide an excellent, high fidelity local dev experience. Dynalite was and still is the best local DynamoDB emulator, and so it's been part of the Architect Sandbox since the beginning.

As sometimes happens with open source projects, Dynalite's needs have outstripped the time its creator has available to devote to it. Because Dynalite is still so important to Architect's ongoing story, we've agreed to take over its maintenance.

@mhart + @brianleroux sowing seeds back in 2015:

Where we go from here

We know Architect is hardly the only project to make use of Dynalite. We assume other projects continue to use it year after year not just because of the excellent job it does emulating DynamoDB, but also because it's just so fast and stable.

As such, we felt it would be a good idea to outline how we're thinking about taking over this project. In no particular order:

• Don’t break Dynalite
• Dynalite will remain its own project (as opposed to just becoming part of the Architect Sandbox, for example); see: Don't break Dynalite.
• The issue tracker will remain on the repo and not in the main Architect issue tracker
• For anyone with longstanding feature requests or bugs, we'll kindly ask for your patience as we get onboarded to the project!
  • We may start by making changes may seem superficial or lower priority than what you may feel Dynalite needs right now, but ultimately our goal will be to improve our own ability to maintain the project longer-term.
• We will indeed be merging (appropriate, well crafted) PRs, closing stale PRs and issues, etc., but we will not be in a huge rush to do so. See: Don't break Dynalite.

Staying in touch

In addition to the Dynalite issue tracker here, we hope you'll join us in the #dynalite channel in the Architect Discord!

Contributing to Dynalite

If you're reading this, we hope you'll consider helping out with Dynalite any way you see fit and have the time for! As mentioned above, it will take us a little while to get onboarded to the codebase, but we'll be looking at PRs as often and quickly as possible.

In general, Architect's approach to prioritizing outside is as follows:

1. Bug fixes and security issues
2. Enhancements or changes previously discussed in issues or Discord
3. Enhancements or changes not previously discussed
4. Everything else / administrivia

PRs should ideally always be accompanied by tests, and those without updated tests will likely be deprioritized. As noted above, we aim to keep things stable.

Related: as part of the Architect (an OpenJS Foundation project), contributors will be expected to agree to a CLA (Contributor License Agreement). Also, in accordance with all projects in the Architect organization, Dynalite's license will be changing to Apache 2.0. Previous versions (<=3.2.2) are licensed as-is, while anything >3.2.2 will be Apache 2.0.

[Hideman85]

I just seen this thread and I find it awesome. I totally agree, what a nightmare to run java... dynalite in memory is supper fast. We are using it in BE along site with vitest & dynamoose and it drastically improves the tests and development experience.

Looking forward to see the project maintained by more contributors and keep on the good work 🚀

[reconbot]

I'm quite happy to hear about the active development! It couldn't have landed in better hands.