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Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#141

Post by rhc2104 »

antjanus wrote: post #110
hiteshk_msft wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineer on the Chakra team here. As the blog post says, we are definitely interested in going cross-platform. Which platforms would you be interested in seeing first?

OS X. I don't use it but I think it'd have great value. I often hear engineers talk about how they don't want to work with IE because they have to boot up a VM to use it. So...they don't even test it, they know nothing about it except for how IE used to be 10 years ago when they still used Windows machines. That'd be the coolest thing since it'd encourage developers that shy away from MS technology to dive into it.

Have you heard of www.browserstack.com ? Easy way to test different platforms without VMs.

Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#142

Post by jimbobimbo »

oblio wrote: post #10

I have a somewhat off topic question: is there anything in the design of Javascript that mandates single-threadedness? Could any Javascript engine implement threads? I'm asking because I'm wondering if Node.js's evented approach is the only way to do things.

My speculation is that before Node stepped into the picture, primary use-case for JS was browser, hence UI manipulation. That usually prompts for a single thread that can update UI, unless you're willing to introduce a lot of mental overhead when dealing with synchronization primitives.

Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#143

Post by crudbug »

jandem wrote: post #109
roddux wrote: post #19

Wait, Edge does better on ES6 coverage than both Chrome and Firefox? Microsoft have seriously stepped up their game, especially seeing as it's now neck and neck for performance with Chrome: http://venturebeat.com/2015/09/10/browser-benchmark-battle-s...

The next Firefox Nightly build should get 84% on that page, much closer to Edge than Firefox 44 (74%). I work on SpiderMonkey and I'm super excited about this news. All JS engines have added more-or-less similar performance optimizations but often implemented differently and I'm really interested to see what the Chakra team did. I'd be happy to write a blog post on it next month, if people are interested.

+1

Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#144

Post by bhauer »

Drdrdrq wrote: post #117
bhauer wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps. But it's also worth noting that United States vs. Microsoft was coincident with the stagnation in Internet Explorer, with the case starting in 2000, during IE 5's tenure. For better or for worse, I think the case had a lot to do with Internet Explorer's long pause. I often wonder how Microsoft's browser, its Internet services, and the company as a whole would be today had that case not been undertaken.

If I understand correctly, MS was found guilty of abusing its monopoly by bundling IE with OS, which has put other browsers to disadvantage. The way I see it, the only trouble with the case was that it was too late. By that time IE has already won. Are you suggesting some other consequence of this case, leading to stagnation of IE development? I can't see any...

> Are you suggesting some other consequence of this case, leading to stagnation of IE development? I can't see any...

I can't directly see any either because I don't know anyone at Microsoft, least of all on the IE team. But I think the coincident pause in IE's evolution is undeniable. As for a cause and effect link, that's just conjecture. To me, it seems likely that there were either formal business decisions that reduced the effort expended on IE or at least a psychological block that had much the same effect.

Look, I am a Mozilla partisan through and through. I've been using Netscape, then Mozilla, then Firefox for years. So in many ways, I applauded the outcome of the United States vs Microsoft case. But to consider the case as one of only upsides and no downsides seems a bit narrow minded.

Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#147

Post by krylon »

Inthenameofmine wrote: post #6
sdegutis wrote: post #2

Wow. They're really serious about changing their philosophy aren't they. Using Github for their stuff, making and open sourcing Visual Studio Code, other stuff I can't remember, and now this.

If they go full SaaS I would not be surprized if they go Open Source on Windows itself, seriously. I think for that to happen Nadella needs one big win/turnaround and the shareholders might be on board.

Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, a couple of months back, Mark Russinovich (of SysInternals fame) gave a talk somewhere and mentioned that they were looking into that.

Sounds kind of strange to say it out loud, though. ;-)

Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#149

Post by nocman »

"I was literally blown away by Visual Studio Code"

^^ Wow, Microsoft should really be more cautious with their code. There seems to be an epidemic of injuries.

I'm so sorry to hear about your accident. I hope your injuries were not serious!

:-D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jh4Mpgbi4A

Re: Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine to go open-source

#150

Post by hakcermani »

roddux wrote: post #19

Wait, Edge does better on ES6 coverage than both Chrome and Firefox? Microsoft have seriously stepped up their game, especially seeing as it's now neck and neck for performance with Chrome: http://venturebeat.com/2015/09/10/browser-benchmark-battle-s...

Totally, and with Typescript 1.7 they have also advanced the node.js game significantly with ES7 features.
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