Roadmap & Future Plans

This page outlines the development roadmap for OctoFHIR FHIRPath, including planned features, improvements, and long-term goals. Our roadmap is organized by release milestones and priority levels.

Current Status

Version 0.1.x - Foundation Release ✅

Status: Released
Focus: Core functionality and basic language bindings

Completed Features:

✅ Basic FHIRPath expression parsing
✅ Core evaluation engine
✅ CLI tool with validation and evaluation
✅ Node.js bindings with NAPI
✅ WebAssembly bindings for browsers
✅ Basic error handling and reporting
✅ Initial test suite integration
✅ Cross-platform build system
✅ Documentation site with interactive playground

Short-term Goals (Next 6 months)

Version 0.2.x - Compliance & Performance 🚧

Status: In Development
Target: Q2 2025
Focus: Specification compliance and performance optimization

Planned Features:

🔄 Enhanced FHIRPath Compliance
- Complete implementation of all FHIRPath functions
- Full support for type system and conversions
- Advanced path navigation features
- Comprehensive operator support
🔄 Performance Optimizations
- Expression compilation and caching
- Memory usage optimizations
- Parallel evaluation for large datasets
- Streaming support for large FHIR bundles
🔄 Improved Error Handling
- Better error messages with suggestions
- Error recovery mechanisms
- Detailed stack traces for complex expressions
- Validation warnings and hints
🔄 Testing & Quality
- 90%+ compliance with official FHIRPath test suite
- Property-based testing implementation
- Fuzzing integration for robustness testing
- Performance regression testing

Version 0.3.x - Developer Experience 📋

Status: Planned
Target: Q3 2025
Focus: Developer tools and ecosystem integration

Planned Features:

📋 IDE Integration
- VS Code extension with syntax highlighting
- IntelliSense support for FHIRPath expressions
- Real-time validation and error checking
- Debugging support with breakpoints
📋 Enhanced CLI Tools
- Interactive REPL mode
- Batch processing capabilities
- Configuration file support
- Plugin system for custom functions
📋 Documentation Improvements
- Interactive tutorials and guides
- Video tutorials and walkthroughs
- API reference with examples
- Migration guides from other implementations
📋 Language Bindings Expansion
- Python bindings using PyO3
- Java bindings via JNI
- C/C++ bindings for broader compatibility
- Go bindings using CGO

Medium-term Goals (6-12 months)

Version 0.4.x - Advanced Features 📋

Status: Planned
Target: Q4 2025
Focus: Advanced functionality and enterprise features

Planned Features:

📋 Advanced Query Optimization
- Query plan optimization
- Index-aware query execution
- Cost-based optimization
- Query result caching
📋 Scalability Improvements
- Distributed evaluation support
- Horizontal scaling capabilities
- Load balancing and failover
- Resource pooling and management
📋 Security Enhancements
- Expression sandboxing
- Resource access controls
- Audit logging and monitoring
- Security policy enforcement
📋 Integration Features
- Database integration (PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
- Message queue integration
- REST API server mode
- GraphQL integration

Version 0.5.x - Ecosystem Integration 📋

Status: Planned
Target: Q1 2026
Focus: Healthcare ecosystem integration

Planned Features:

📋 FHIR Server Integration
- Direct FHIR server connectivity
- Bulk data export processing
- Real-time subscription support
- SMART on FHIR integration
📋 Healthcare Standards
- CQL (Clinical Quality Language) support
- HL7 v2 message processing
- DICOM integration capabilities
- IHE profile compliance
📋 Analytics & Reporting
- Built-in analytics functions
- Report generation capabilities
- Data visualization integration
- Statistical analysis functions
📋 Cloud Platform Support
- AWS Lambda integration
- Azure Functions support
- Google Cloud Functions
- Kubernetes operators

Long-term Vision (1-2 years)

Version 1.0.x - Production Ready 📋

Status: Planned
Target: Q2 2026
Focus: Production stability and enterprise readiness

Goals:

📋 100% FHIRPath Specification Compliance
- Complete implementation of all specification features
- Full compatibility with reference implementations
- Comprehensive test coverage
- Performance benchmarks against other implementations
📋 Enterprise Features
- High availability and fault tolerance
- Monitoring and observability
- Performance analytics and optimization
- Enterprise support and SLA options
📋 Ecosystem Maturity
- Rich plugin ecosystem
- Community contributions and governance
- Comprehensive documentation and training
- Industry adoption and case studies

Version 2.0.x - Next Generation 📋

Status: Research
Target: 2027+
Focus: Next-generation capabilities

Research Areas:

📋 AI/ML Integration
- Machine learning model integration
- Natural language query processing
- Intelligent query optimization
- Predictive analytics capabilities
📋 Advanced Performance
- JIT compilation to native code
- GPU acceleration for parallel processing
- Quantum computing integration (research)
- Edge computing optimization
📋 Extended Standards
- FHIR R6+ support as specifications evolve
- Emerging healthcare standards
- Interoperability with new protocols
- Next-generation data formats

Development Priorities

High Priority 🔴

FHIRPath Specification Compliance
- Complete function library implementation
- Type system compliance
- Edge case handling
Performance Optimization
- Memory usage reduction
- Evaluation speed improvements
- Scalability enhancements
Error Handling & Debugging
- Better error messages
- Debugging tools
- Development experience

Medium Priority 🟡

Language Bindings
- Python and Java bindings
- Additional platform support
- API consistency across bindings
Developer Tools
- IDE extensions
- CLI enhancements
- Documentation improvements
Integration Features
- Database connectivity
- Cloud platform support
- Third-party integrations

Lower Priority 🟢

Advanced Features
- AI/ML integration
- Advanced analytics
- Specialized use cases
Research Projects
- Experimental optimizations
- New algorithm research
- Future standard support

Community Involvement

How to Contribute

We welcome community contributions in several areas:

Code Contributions: Bug fixes, feature implementations, optimizations
Documentation: Tutorials, examples, API documentation
Testing: Test cases, bug reports, performance testing
Feedback: Use cases, feature requests, design feedback

Contribution Guidelines

Follow our contributing guide
Use conventional commit messages
Include tests for new features
Update documentation as needed
Participate in design discussions

Community Priorities

The community can influence our roadmap through:

GitHub Issues: Feature requests and bug reports
Discussions: Design discussions and feedback
Pull Requests: Direct code contributions
Surveys: Periodic community surveys on priorities

Release Schedule

Release Cadence

Major releases (0.x.0): Every 3-4 months
Minor releases (0.x.y): Monthly for bug fixes and small features
Patch releases (0.x.y): As needed for critical fixes

Release Process

Planning: Community input and priority setting
Development: Feature implementation and testing
Beta Testing: Community beta testing period
Release: Stable release with documentation
Post-Release: Bug fixes and community feedback

Backward Compatibility

API Stability: Maintain API compatibility within major versions
Migration Guides: Provide migration guides for breaking changes
Deprecation Policy: 6-month deprecation period for breaking changes
LTS Support: Long-term support for major releases

Success Metrics

Technical Metrics

Performance: Sub-millisecond evaluation for typical expressions
Compliance: 100% FHIRPath specification compliance
Reliability: 99.9% uptime in production environments
Memory: Minimal memory footprint for resource-constrained environments

Adoption Metrics

Downloads: Package download statistics
GitHub Stars: Community interest and adoption
Issues/PRs: Community engagement and contributions
Case Studies: Real-world usage examples and success stories

Quality Metrics

Test Coverage: 95%+ code coverage
Bug Reports: Low bug report rate and fast resolution
Documentation: Comprehensive and up-to-date documentation
Performance: Consistent performance improvements

This roadmap is a living document that evolves based on community feedback, technical discoveries, and changing requirements in the healthcare interoperability landscape. We encourage community participation in shaping the future of OctoFHIR FHIRPath.