Jira Gadget vs Plugin. When to use each?

lokesh cherukuri

What is the difference between Jira Gadget, plugin, and Addon? When to use each of them. I want to build some functionality that takes Jira data (stories, bugs, epics etc) and calculates some metrics. Jira doesn't give those metrics. we have to write custom algorithms to calculate them and store them in a JIRA DB (Not allowed to store Data outside Jira). Finally, we want to show them as tables, charts etc. So, now what to build to achieve this. plugin or gadget. And also are there any useful starter tutorials, libraries to speed up the development?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

Plugins are packages of code that add or replace functionality in the Jira framework.

These were sort of renamed as Add-ons a while ago, although it's not quite accurate because not all add-ons are plugins (think of the marketplace - it still has a lot of plugins for Jira Server, but add-ons for Cloud are not plugins, and some add-ons are actually external to the servers completely). 

The definition was widened again with the latest rename to Apps, which means "anything in the marketplace or your own coding"  (Although I really don't like that choice, as App is an abbreviation for Application, and Application means something else again in Atlassian-speak)

So.  Gadgets are things you stick on a Jira dashboard to help visualise or report on stuff.  All gadgets are provided in Jira by Add-ons (plugins), although in theory you can draw some in from other places.

So, the answer to "So, now what to build to achieve this. plugin or gadget." is actually "Both".  You probably want to write a plugin(add-on) that provides a new gadget