# Next Sprint Options - Post v3.63.0

## Current Status (v3.63.0)

✅ **Actors**: 100% Complete (31/31 tests, 250K msg/sec)
📊 **Book Compatibility**: 92.5% (62/67 examples)
🧪 **Test Coverage**: 3,414 tests passing
⚡ **Performance**: Production-ready

---

## 🎯 Top 5 Priority Options

### **OPTION 1: DataFrame Implementation Sprint** 📊 ⭐⭐⭐ HIGHEST VALUE

**Objective**: Implement production-ready DataFrames using Polars backend

**Current Status**: 0% (Chapter 18: 0/4 working, feature advertised but not implemented)
**Effort**: 5-7 days
**Impact**: 🚀 **CRITICAL** - Major advertised feature, unlocks data science use cases

**Gap Analysis**:
- ❌ DataFrame literal syntax: `df![...]` (0%)
- ❌ Column operations: select, filter, map (0%)
- ❌ Row operations: add, remove, iterate (0%)
- ❌ CSV import/export (0%)
- ❌ DataFrame display formatting (0%)
- ❌ Integration with Polars (0%)

**Tickets**:
1. **DF-001**: DataFrame literal parsing (`df![col1: [1,2], col2: ["a","b"]]`)
2. **DF-002**: Column operations (select, filter, map, reduce)
3. **DF-003**: Row operations (add, remove, iterate, slice)
4. **DF-004**: CSV/JSON import/export
5. **DF-005**: Display formatting and pretty printing
6. **DF-006**: Polars integration (lazy evaluation, Arrow format)
7. **DF-007**: Property tests (10K+ rows)

**Success Metrics**:
- Chapter 18: 0/4 → 4/4 working (100%)
- Book compatibility: 92.5% → 96% (66/67)
- Add 25+ TDD tests for DataFrames
- Performance: 1M rows in <1s

**Why Highest Priority**:
- **User Demand**: DataFrames are #1 requested feature
- **Market Position**: Differentiates Ruchy from other scripting languages
- **Use Cases**: Data analysis, ETL, scientific computing
- **Ecosystem**: Leverages Polars (production-ready, fast)
- **Book Gap**: 0% → 100% is high-impact achievement

**Example**:
```ruchy
let df = df![
    name: ["Alice", "Bob", "Charlie"],
    age: [25, 30, 35],
    salary: [50000, 60000, 70000]
]

let filtered = df
    |> filter(|row| row.age > 28)
    |> select(["name", "salary"])
    |> sort_by("salary")

println(filtered)
```

---

### **OPTION 2: Error Handling Completion** 🛡️ ⭐⭐⭐ HIGH VALUE

**Objective**: Complete Result<T,E> error handling system

**Current Status**: 45% (Chapter 17: 5/11 working)
**Effort**: 3-5 days
**Impact**: 🔧 **CRITICAL** - Production-critical feature

**Gap Analysis**:
- ✅ Result<T,E> type exists (basic)
- ✅ Ok() and Err() constructors
- ❌ Result methods: unwrap, expect, unwrap_or (0%)
- ❌ Error propagation with ? operator (0%)
- ❌ try/catch syntax (0%)
- ❌ Custom error types (0%)

**Tickets**:
1. **ERROR-001**: Result methods (unwrap, expect, unwrap_or, is_ok, is_err)
2. **ERROR-002**: ? operator for error propagation
3. **ERROR-003**: try/catch/finally syntax
4. **ERROR-004**: Custom error types with impl Error
5. **ERROR-005**: Error context and chaining
6. **ERROR-006**: Panic handling and recovery

**Success Metrics**:
- Chapter 17: 5/11 → 10/11 working (90%)
- Book compatibility: 92.5% → 96.5% (67/67 - COMPLETE!)
- Add 20+ TDD tests for error handling
- Zero new panics in production code

**Why High Priority**:
- **Production Readiness**: Essential for reliable systems
- **Book Completion**: Achieves 100% book compatibility!
- **Developer Experience**: Better error messages and handling
- **Safety**: Prevents crashes, encourages error handling

**Example**:
```ruchy
fn read_config(path: String) -> Result<Config, Error> {
    let contents = File.read(path)?  // ? operator
    let config = parse_json(contents)?
    Ok(config)
}

fn main() {
    match read_config("config.json") {
        Ok(cfg) => println("Loaded: " + cfg.name),
        Err(e) => println("Error: " + e.message())
    }
}
```

---

### **OPTION 3: Control Flow Completion** 🔄 ⭐⭐ GOOD VALUE

**Objective**: Complete advanced control flow features

**Current Status**: 65% (Chapter 5: 11/17 working)
**Effort**: 2-4 days
**Impact**: 🏗️ **MEDIUM** - Fundamental language feature

**Gap Analysis**:
- ✅ Basic loops (for, while, loop)
- ✅ Match expressions
- ✅ If/else
- ❌ Loop labels (break 'outer, continue 'inner) (0%)
- ❌ Match guards with complex expressions (partial)
- ❌ While-let destructuring (0%)
- ❌ Loop return values (0%)

**Tickets**:
1. **CTRL-001**: Loop labels (`'label: loop { break 'label; }`)
2. **CTRL-002**: Match guards (`match x { n if n > 10 => ... }`)
3. **CTRL-003**: While-let patterns (`while let Some(x) = iter.next() { }`)
4. **CTRL-004**: Loop expressions return values
5. **CTRL-005**: Labeled break with values (`break 'outer 42`)

**Success Metrics**:
- Chapter 5: 11/17 → 16/17 working (94%)
- Book compatibility: 92.5% → 96% (66/67)
- Add 15+ TDD tests
- <10 complexity per function

**Why Good Priority**:
- **Fundamentals**: Control flow is core to any language
- **Quick Wins**: Relatively small scope (2-4 days)
- **High Impact**: Affects many use cases
- **Book Progress**: Significant improvement

**Example**:
```ruchy
'outer: for i in 0..10 {
    for j in 0..10 {
        if i * j > 50 {
            break 'outer  // Break outer loop
        }
    }
}

match value {
    x if x > 100 => println("Large"),
    x if x > 10 => println("Medium"),
    _ => println("Small")
}
```

---

### **OPTION 4: WASM Compilation Enhancement** 🌐 ⭐⭐ STRATEGIC VALUE

**Objective**: Improve WebAssembly compilation and runtime

**Current Status**: 25% (Chapter 15: 1/4 working, basic WASM works)
**Effort**: 4-6 days
**Impact**: 🌐 **STRATEGIC** - Enables browser/edge deployment

**Gap Analysis**:
- ✅ Basic WASM compilation (working)
- ✅ WASM module generation
- ❌ WASM imports/exports (partial)
- ❌ Memory management in WASM (0%)
- ❌ WASM optimization passes (0%)
- ❌ Browser API bindings (0%)

**Tickets**:
1. **WASM-001**: Import/export function bindings
2. **WASM-002**: Linear memory management
3. **WASM-003**: Optimization passes (dead code elimination)
4. **WASM-004**: Browser API bindings (console, DOM, fetch)
5. **WASM-005**: WASI support for file system access
6. **WASM-006**: Performance benchmarks (vs JavaScript)

**Success Metrics**:
- Chapter 15: 1/4 → 3/4 working (75%)
- Book compatibility: 92.5% → 94% (64/67)
- WASM module size: <100KB (optimized)
- Performance: Within 2x of native JavaScript

**Why Strategic Priority**:
- **Deployment**: Run Ruchy in browsers, edge workers
- **Market**: Competes with JavaScript, Python (Pyodide)
- **Use Cases**: Web apps, serverless, edge computing
- **Differentiator**: Systems language that runs in browser

**Example**:
```ruchy
// Compile to WASM
// ruchy compile --target wasm app.ruchy

#[export]
fn calculate(x: i32, y: i32) -> i32 {
    x * y + 42
}

// In JavaScript:
// const result = wasmModule.calculate(10, 5);
```

---

### **OPTION 5: Performance Optimization Sprint** ⚡ ⭐ POLISH

**Objective**: Optimize interpreter performance with JIT foundations

**Current Status**: Production-ready but not optimized
**Effort**: 5-8 days
**Impact**: 🚀 **HIGH** - 2-5x performance improvement

**Gap Analysis**:
- ✅ Basic interpretation working
- ✅ Inline caches (partial)
- ❌ JIT compilation (0%)
- ❌ Method inlining (0%)
- ❌ Type specialization (0%)
- ❌ Bytecode compiler (0%)

**Tickets**:
1. **PERF-001**: Bytecode compiler (replace AST interpretation)
2. **PERF-002**: Type feedback and inline caches
3. **PERF-003**: Method inlining for hot paths
4. **PERF-004**: Type specialization (monomorphization)
5. **PERF-005**: Register allocation for bytecode
6. **PERF-006**: Benchmark suite (vs Python, Ruby, Node)

**Success Metrics**:
- Benchmark improvement: 2-5x faster
- Actor messages: 250K → 500K+ msg/sec
- Startup time: <50ms for small programs
- Memory: Reduce by 20-30%

**Why Polish Priority**:
- **Performance**: Make Ruchy competitive with Ruby/Python
- **Perception**: Speed matters for adoption
- **Use Cases**: Enables more demanding workloads
- **Learning**: Builds JIT infrastructure for future

**Example Improvements**:
```
Before: 250,000 actor messages/sec
After: 500,000+ actor messages/sec (2x)

Before: Script startup ~100ms
After: Script startup ~40ms (2.5x)

Before: Memory per value ~32 bytes
After: Memory per value ~24 bytes (25% reduction)
```

---

## 📊 Comparison Matrix

| Option | Effort | Impact | Book % | Risk | ROI | Recommendation |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|------|-----|----------------|
| 1: DataFrames | 5-7 days | Very High | +3.5% | Medium | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | **HIGHEST** |
| 2: Error Handling | 3-5 days | High | +4% (100%!) | Low | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | **HIGHEST** |
| 3: Control Flow | 2-4 days | Medium | +3.5% | Low | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | **HIGH** |
| 4: WASM | 4-6 days | Strategic | +1.5% | Medium | ⭐⭐⭐ | **GOOD** |
| 5: Performance | 5-8 days | High | 0% | High | ⭐⭐⭐ | **GOOD** |

---

## 🎯 Recommendation: Choose Based on Goal

### If Goal = **User Value & Market Position**
→ **OPTION 1: DataFrames**
- Unlocks data science use cases
- Most requested feature
- Major differentiator

### If Goal = **100% Book Compatibility**
→ **OPTION 2: Error Handling**
- Achieves 100% book compatibility milestone
- Production-critical feature
- Low risk, high impact

### If Goal = **Quick Wins**
→ **OPTION 3: Control Flow**
- Smallest effort (2-4 days)
- Solid improvement (+3.5%)
- Low risk

### If Goal = **Strategic Positioning**
→ **OPTION 4: WASM**
- Browser/edge deployment
- Competitive advantage
- New market opportunities

### If Goal = **Performance Leadership**
→ **OPTION 5: Performance**
- 2-5x speed improvement
- Competitive with Ruby/Python
- Long-term infrastructure

---

## 📝 Session Context for Next Sprint

**Completed This Session (v3.63.0)**:
- ✅ Actor system 100% complete
- ✅ 31 actor tests passing
- ✅ 250,000 messages/second
- ✅ Design documentation
- ✅ Published to crates.io
- ✅ Examples verified

**Current Blockers**: None
**Technical Debt**: Low (PMAT quality gates enforced)
**Test Coverage**: 99.4% (3,414 tests)

**Ready to Start**: All options are unblocked and ready to implement.

---

**Date**: 2025-10-01
**Version**: v3.63.0
**Next Sprint**: Choose from 5 options above
