Roadmap to v1.0.0

[chrischtel]

This document outlines the planned development path for the CFITSIO Zig bindings from the current v0.2.0 to v1.0.0.

Current Status (v0.2.0)

✅ Core Features Implemented:

• Basic file operations (open, close, create)
• Header operations (read/write keywords, card images)
• Basic image operations with f32/f64 support
• WCS coordinate handling
• Memory management with explicit allocators

v0.3.0 - Complete Core Image Support

• Additional image data types
  • Integer types: i8, i16, i32, i64
  • Unsigned types: u8, u16, u32, u64
• Image data validation
• Enhanced error handling for image operations
• Basic image statistics
  • Min/max values
  • Mean calculation
  • Median calculation
  • Standard deviation

Planned Versions

v0.4.0 - HDU Management

• HDU Creation
  • Image HDUs
  • Empty HDUs
• HDU Navigation and Movement
  • Move between HDUs
  • Get HDU information
  • List HDUs
• HDU Operations
  • Delete HDUs
  • Copy HDUs
  • Move HDUs
• HDU Type Detection

v0.5.0 - Basic Table Support

• Binary Table Operations
  • Table creation
  • Table reading
  • Column handling
  • Row handling
• Standard FITS Table Data Types
• Basic Column Operations
  • Add/remove columns
  • Read/write column data
• Basic Row Operations
  • Add/remove rows
  • Read/write row data

v0.6.0 - Extended Table Support

• ASCII Table Support
• Table Indexing
• Column Transformations
• Bulk Row Operations
• Variable-length Array Support

v0.7.0 - Memory and Performance

• Streaming Operations
  • Large file handling
  • Memory-efficient processing
• Buffer Reuse Optimization
• Memory Usage Improvements
• Performance Optimizations

v0.8.0 - Advanced Features

• Compression Support
• Extended WCS Support
• FITS Verification and Validation
• Checksum Calculation

v0.9.0 - Error Handling and Stability

• Complete Error Sets
• Error Recovery Mechanisms
• Code Cleanup
• Test Coverage
• Stability Improvements

v1.0.0 - Production Ready

• Complete Documentation
  • API documentation
  • Usage examples
  • Best practices
• Example Code
• Performance Guidelines
• API Stability Guarantees
• Migration Guide from CFITSIO

Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you're interested in working on any of these features, please:

1. Check if there's already an issue for the feature
2. Create a new issue if none exists
3. Discuss implementation details in the issue
4. Submit a pull request

Timeline

Please note that this roadmap is tentative and may be adjusted based on community needs and contributor availability. No specific dates are set for releases, as they will be made when features are complete and stable.

Feedback

If you have suggestions for additional features or different priorities, please feel free to comment on this issue or create a new one for discussion.