Ember 2.18 and 3.0 Beta Released

– By Ricardo Mendes, Matthew Beale, Brendan McLoughlin

Today the Ember project is releasing version 2.18.0 of Ember.js, Ember Data, and Ember CLI.

After 2.5 years and 18 minor releases, Ember 2.18 marks the end of the project's 2.x series. To ensure a smooth upgrade path going into the 3.x series, 2.18 has been declared an LTS candidate. In six weeks the latest 2.18 build will succeed Ember 2.16.2 as the latest LTS release. As an LTS, it will receive bug fixes until Ember 3.5 is released.

Today we also kick off the 3.0 beta cycle for all sub-projects. Ember 3.0 introduces no new features. Instead, it removes support for deprecated public APIs, all of which have been deprecated since at least Ember 2.14 (released July 2017). Extended support for removed Ember.js APIs will be provided via an optional addon through Ember 3.4.

Ember 3.0 removes support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 9, IE 10, and PhantomJS. This includes support for these platforms by Ember.js, Ember Data, and Ember CLI. For more details about this decision see RFC 252 and the discussion on RFC PR #252.

We need the help of the Ember community (especially addon authors) to test the 3.0 beta builds and transition path for 2.x codebases. If you encounter any unexpected changes while testing Ember 3.0 beta, especially in features not previously marked as deprecated by 2.14, please open an issue on the appropriate repo.

You can read more about our detailed transition plans through Ember 3.5 in The Road to Ember 3.0 and below.

You can read more about our general release process here:

Ember.js

Ember.js is the core of the Ember framework. It provides routing, rendering, and dependency injection features.

Changes in Ember.js 2.18

Ember.js 2.18 is an incremental and backwards compatible release which includes minor bug fixes. No new features or public API deprecations are introduced.

2.18 is light on changes because we want the final release of the 2.x cycle to be as stable and battle-tested as possible. 2.18 is an LTS candidate, which means that after six weeks it will be promoted to an LTS release. As an LTS release it will receive bug fixes until Ember 3.5 is released and security patches until Ember 3.9 is released.

2.18 is the final release of Ember.js to support IE9, IE10, and PhantomJS. It is also the final release published for Bower.

"Intimate API" refers to API surface that maintainers never intended to become public, but which still has some small use in the wild. 2.18.0 adds an intimate API deprecation for passing targetObject to a component invocation. Support for this API will be removed in Ember 3.5. See PR #14590 for more details.

For more details on changes in Ember.js 2.18, please review the Ember.js 2.18.0 release page.

Upcoming Changes in Ember.js 3.0

Ember.js 3.0 is the first release in the 3.x series. It introduces no new public API or deprecations. Instead, it is comprised of bug fixes and the removal of previously deprecated public API from the 2.x cycle. This release drops support for IE9, IE10, and PhantomJS.

Removed APIs in Ember.js 3.0

The public APIs removed in 3.0-beta.1 do not yet represent the complete list of removals planned for 3.0 stable. For an exhaustive list of planned 3.0 removals and migration guidance see the Ember.js 2.x deprecation guide (any entry "until: 3.0") and the quest issue emberjs/ember.js#15876.

The list of public API removals included in 3.0-beta.1 are:

  • The {{render}} helper has been removed. Any remaining usage should be migrated to components.
  • didInitAttrs is removed and can be replaced with init
  • Declaring an observer with dependent keys after the callback is removed. Dependent keys should be passed before the callback as described in the API docs.
  • Enumerable#contains and Array#contains methods are removed. Instead usage should be replaced with includes.
  • {{link-to}} unwrapped the model property from passed controllers. This behavior has been removed.
  • Specifying defaultLayout on a component rather than layout has been removed.
  • Ember.Handlebars.SafeString has been removed. Instead, use Ember.String.htmlSafe or the import { htmlSafe } from '@ember/string'.
  • Ember.K has been removed. Usage should be replaced with inline functions.
  • Support for legacy initializers with two arguments (container, application) has been removed in favor of a single argument of application.

Further planned public API removals for 3.0 include:

  • Ember's legacy binding system, including Ember.Binding and the fooBinding micro-syntax. See the migration guide for details.
  • Ember's Map, MapWithDefault, and OrderedSet classes. These should be replaced with native features or with implementations from other libraries.

Please see emberjs/ember.js#15876 for more details (including about previously deprecated private or intimate API removals) and updates during the beta cycle.

Transitioning to 3.x with ember-2-legacy

Public APIs removed in Ember.js 3.0 have each been ported to the ember-2-legacy addon. This addon makes it possible for applications to adopt 3.0 even if they still require features unsupported by the core of the framework.

This addon will not include support for removed intimate or private APIs, nor will it enable support for IE9, IE10, PhantomJS, or Bower. In The Road to Ember 3.0 we committed to support this addon through Ember.js 3.4, the first LTS candidate of the 3.x cycle.

Other Ember.js 3.0 Changes

Ember.js 3.0 removes support for IE9, IE 10, and PhantomJS. For more details about this decision see RFC 252 and the discussion on RFC PR #252.

Finally, Ember.js 3.0 will not be published for Bower.

For more details on the upcoming changes in Ember.js 3.0, please review the Ember.js 3.0.0-beta.1 release page.

Ember Data

Ember Data is the official data persistence library for Ember.js applications.

Changes in Ember Data 2.18

Ember Data 2.18 contains no new features. The changes introduced in Ember Data 2.18 mostly focus on bug fixes and improved documentation.

One public API deprecation targeting Ember Data 4.0 is introduced in Ember Data 2.18:

  • Support for "production-like" values of EMBER_ENV will be removed. For example, custom production names like production-qa should be replaced with production

For more details on changes in Ember Data 2.18, please review the Ember Data 2.18.0 release page.

Upcoming changes in Ember Data 3.0

Ember Data 3.0 contains major improvements in the testing blueprints that are shipped with Ember Data and used by Ember CLI when you use ember generate model, adapter, or serializer. Big thanks to @alexander-alvarez for all his work on the QUnit Blueprints Quest Issue.

There are no deprecations introduced in Ember Data 3.0.

For more details on the upcoming changes in Ember Data 3.0, please review the Ember Data 3.0.0-beta.1 release page.

Ember CLI

Ember CLI is the command line interface for managing and packaging Ember.js applications.

Changes in Ember CLI 2.18

Ember CLI 2.18 is an incremental release featuring bug fixes and improvements. This release does not introduce any new deprecations.

ESLint configuration changes

Newly generate Ember applications will now have only a single .eslintrc.js file. This file uses the "overrides" feature of ESLint to customize rules appropriately for test or Node files.

For more details see:

Node 7 removed from CI testing matrix

According to the Node support policy of the Ember CLI project, Node 7 is removed from the testing matrix. If you are developing an application using Ember CLI, it is recommended that you upgrade your Node to one of the active LTS versions to guarantee security updates.

Previously, if you were npm-linking an addon that had itself npm-linked a dependency, Ember CLI would fail to find it. This is now fixed.

crossdomain.xml removed for new applications

crossdomain.xml was originally introduced to limit vulnerabilities when using the Flash Player. It did this by declaring which hosts the Flash Player could connect to outside the one hosting the file. Browsers have since disabled Flash for security reasons, rendering the file moot. Ember CLI 2.18 will no longer generate the file for new applications.

For more details on the changes in Ember CLI 2.18 and detailed upgrade instructions, please review the Ember CLI 2.18.0 release page.

Upcoming Changes in Ember CLI 3.0

Ember CLI 3.0 will feature a much improved README for the addon blueprint. The improvements include:

  • An automatically generated "Installation" section
  • An empty "Usage" section
  • A "License" section
  • Setext headings to emphasize sections when in raw text mode.

Ember CLI 3.0 does not introduce any new deprecations.

For more details on the changes in Ember CLI 3.0.0-beta.1 and detailed upgrade instructions, please review the Ember CLI 3.0.0-beta.1 release page.

Thank You!

As a community-driven open-source project with an ambitious scope, each of these releases serve as a reminder that the Ember project would not have been possible without your continued support. We are extremely grateful to our contributors for their efforts.