Building Modern Apps with the FrontPage SDK

Migrating to the FrontPage SDK: Step-by-Step ChecklistMigrating to a new SDK can feel like a risky operation: you’re updating the foundation of your app while users keep expecting stability. This step-by-step checklist breaks down the migration process for the FrontPage SDK into actionable stages — planning, preparation, migration, testing, and post-release follow-up — so you can minimize downtime and regressions while taking advantage of the SDK’s features.

Why migrate to the FrontPage SDK?

Before diving into the steps, here are the core reasons teams choose to migrate:

• Modern API surface for faster feature development
• Improved performance through optimized runtimes and smaller bundles
• Better security and sandboxing primitives
• Official tooling and diagnostics that reduce debugging time
• Long-term maintainability and support

Phase 1 — Planning & discovery

1. Inventory your current codebase

   • Catalog modules, libraries, and custom integrations that interact with your current SDK or platform.
   • Identify any native modules, platform-specific code, or third-party plugins that may not have FrontPage equivalents.

2. Map required FrontPage features to existing functionality

   • Create a feature matrix: for each in-use feature, list the FrontPage SDK counterpart or the migration approach (native bridging, polyfill, rewrite).

3. Assess risk and prioritize components

   • Rank components by user impact and complexity (e.g., auth flows, payment processing, background sync).
   • Plan to migrate high-risk/high-impact pieces in isolation or with feature flags.

4. Create a rollback and release plan

   • Define clear criteria for rollback and how to detect regressions automatically (error thresholds, performance regressions, user complaints).
   • Prepare release channels (beta, canary, staged rollout).

5. Align team and timelines

   • Assign owners for each component and testing area.
   • Schedule milestones: discovery, prototype, migration sprints, QA, and release.

Phase 2 — Preparation & environment setup

1. Read FrontPage SDK docs and changelogs

   • Note breaking changes, deprecations, and required build-tool versions.

2. Update development environment

   • Install required FrontPage CLI, SDK packages, and compatible toolchain versions.
   • Ensure CI/CD runners have updated images or containers.

3. Create a sandbox or feature branch

   • Use an isolated branch or workspace to avoid destabilizing mainline development.
   • Add feature flags or runtime toggles for incremental rollouts.

4. Build compatibility shims and polyfills

   • For APIs not yet available in FrontPage, prepare small adapters that map old calls to new behavior.
   • Document these shims clearly to remove them after full migration.

5. Prepare migration test plan

   • Write unit and integration test outlines focusing on authentication, data integrity, offline behavior, and third-party integrations.
   • Add performance benchmarks to compare pre- and post-migration.

Phase 3 — Core migration steps

1. Migrate foundational services first

   • Begin with low-level services (networking, logging, configuration). These are safer to swap and will provide a stable base for higher-level features.

2. Replace authentication and session handling

   • Carefully migrate auth flows, token storage, refresh logic, and session expiration handling.
   • Validate with both fresh sign-ins and existing session tokens.

3. Port data persistence and sync logic

   • Move local storage, database schemas, and sync queues.
   • If FrontPage offers new persistence models, evaluate data migration scripts or in-place transformation approaches.

4. Update UI integration points

   • Replace SDK UI components or bindings with FrontPage equivalents; for complex widgets, consider a staged replacement.
   • Ensure event propagation and lifecycle hooks behave consistently.

5. Rework native modules (if applicable)

   • If your app uses native code bridges, migrate or rewrite native modules to match FrontPage’s native integration guide.
   • Rebuild and test across target OS versions.

6. Migrate third-party integrations

   • Confirm that analytics, crash reporting, payment, and other third-party SDKs remain compatible.
   • For incompatible services, plan shim layers or deferred migration.

7. Incremental integration with feature flags

   • Enable new SDK routes behind flags to test with a subset of users or internal QA.
   • Monitor errors and telemetry closely during each increment.

Phase 4 — Testing & validation

1. Automated testing

   • Run unit, integration, and end-to-end suites. Update tests to the new SDK APIs and add coverage for migration-specific flows.
   • Validate critical paths: onboarding, payments, content sync, and logout.

2. Performance and memory testing

   • Compare app startup time, memory usage, and network throughput before and after migration.
   • Use the benchmarks prepared earlier to detect regressions.

3. Security and privacy review

   • Verify token handling, encryption, storage permissions, and any new network endpoints introduced by FrontPage.
   • Conduct threat modelling on changed components.

4. Manual QA and exploratory testing

   • Run exploratory sessions focusing on edge cases, intermittent network, and long-run scenarios (overnight background tasks, large data sets).

5. Beta/staged rollouts

   • Release to beta groups; gather crash rates, performance metrics, and user feedback.
   • Gradually increase exposure while monitoring key metrics and error budgets.

Phase 5 — Release & post-release

1. Full production rollout

   • Use staged deployment tools to ramp from small to full user base. Keep rollback plan ready.

2. Monitoring and observability

   • Monitor real-user metrics: crash-free users, latency, error rates, and feature usage.
   • Instrument new SDK calls for observability and add dashboards/alerts.

3. Hotfixes and quick patches

   • Prepare to ship small fixes for regressions discovered after broader exposure. Prioritize security and data integrity issues.

4. Remove temporary shims and feature flags

   • Once stable, clean up compatibility layers and remove long-lived flags to reduce maintenance costs.

5. Post-mortem and documentation updates

   • Run a migration retrospective covering what went well, what failed, and lessons learned.
   • Update architecture docs, onboarding guides, and README files for future developers.

Migration checklist (compact)

• Planning: inventory, feature mapping, risk assessment, rollback plan, team alignment
• Prep: docs read, toolchain update, sandbox branch, shims, test plan
• Core migration: foundational services, auth, persistence, UI, native modules, third-party integrations, feature flags
• Testing: automated suites, performance benchmarks, security review, manual QA, staged rollouts
• Post-release: staged rollout, monitoring, hotfixes, cleanup, documentation & retrospective

Common migration pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Underestimating integration complexity: spend time on upfront discovery and mapping.
• Skipping performance benchmarks: baseline metrics catch regressions early.
• Long-lived compatibility shims: plan to remove them and track technical debt.
• Poor rollback criteria: define concrete, measurable rollback triggers.
• Inadequate communication: keep stakeholders and support teams informed about timelines and expected user impact.

Quick example: migrating an auth flow (high level)

1. Identify existing auth endpoints and token lifecycle.
2. Implement FrontPage auth client and map token storage semantics.
3. Add compatibility layer to accept old token formats during transition.
4. Test sign-in, refresh, and expired-token behaviors under varied network conditions.
5. Flip feature flag and monitor auth-related error rates.

Migrating to the FrontPage SDK is a strategic investment that pays off in performance, security, and developer velocity if executed carefully. Use this checklist as a living document: adjust steps to your product’s complexity, and prioritize user-facing stability above all.