The Journey of rubocop-daemon into RuboCop

I talked at RubyKaigi 2024 LT!
https://rubykaigi.org/2024/presentations/lt/

rubocop-daemon was developed independently as a personal project before being integrated into the RuboCop core as a Server Mode. In this LT, I will discuss how rubocop-daemon came into being and the process leading to its integration into the RuboCop core, sharing the lessons learned along the way. Specifically, I will focus on the challenges faced as an OSS project owner and the effective strategies for engaging with OSS projects.

Transcript

1. The Journey of rubocop-daemon into RuboCop RubyKaigi 2024 LT 2024-05-16 - Hayato Kawai (@fohte)
2. Who Fohte (Hayato Kawai) Infra Engineer at Wantedly, Inc.
3. The Birth of rubocop-daemon
4. Motivation for Creating rubocop-daemon • Running RuboCop in an editor is slow, typically taking about 1-2 seconds ◦ Immediate feedback during coding is essential; the code written 1 second ago is too old!
5. Why RuboCop is Slow • Each command execution reloads RuboCop: $ rubocop … require 'rubocop' RuboCop::CLI.new.run Terminal RuboCop $ rubocop … require 'rubocop' RuboCop::CLI.new.run
6. require 'rubocop' is Slow • Just require 'rubocop' takes about 0.8 seconds without even the core 'lint' functionality $ rubocop … require 'rubocop' RuboCop::CLI.new.run Terminal RuboCop $ rubocop … require 'rubocop' RuboCop::CLI.new.run
7. 💡 Could I try daemonization?
8. I created the rubocop-daemon gem in 2018.
9. Architecture of rubocop-daemon • Save require 'rubocop' time by having a rubocop-daemon server preload it ◦ similar to how an HTTP server operates: rubocop-daemon (server) $ rubocop-daemon exec … Terminal $ rubocop-daemon exec …
10. Lessons from rubocop-daemon
11. Gained organic recognition
12. Exciting OSS Buzz • Being recognized as a third-party gem within the RuboCop community is rewarding • Active issues and patches are also rewarding ◦ It signs that the tool is beneficial and widely used
13. Challenges of OSS: Increasing Support Needs • The more widely it is used, the more support for diverse environments is needed ◦ In rubocop-daemon, some editors/plugins require setup guides ▪ e.g. Vim, VSCode, …
14. Challenges of OSS: Not All Patches Can be Integrated • Integrating a patch means taking ownership of that code ◦ taking the responsibility for future issues and reviews.
15. Challenges of OSS: Not All Patches Can be Integrated • In recognition of the time spent writing the patches, I want to integrate them. ◦ It would be difficult to maintain everything
16. a few years later…
17. Finally integrated into RuboCop core in 2022 🎉 https://github.com/ruboco p/rubocop/pull/10706 Big Thanks to @koic
18. Finally integrated into RuboCop core in 2022 🎉 • I'm happy that my feature is widely used by the RuboCop community ◦ (I'm honored to have my name credited in the RuboCop files) • Effectively handed over maintenance to RuboCop core team, who deserves trusting
19. Conclusion: OSS is a Great Culture • OSS is a great culture but also brings challenges to OSS owners • Contributing upstream isn't the only option ◦ You can instead start with a third-party gem!