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Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

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Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#31
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you have to deal with os compatibility. That's the main selling point of the Web, it works everywhere.

Except when it doesn't because of browser or platform differences/incompatibilities.

The portability of the Web is imperfect, but it's not even in the same galaxy as the portability of native app platforms; there's just no comparison.

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#32
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would never happen because there's zero incentive to do this. Browsers are complex because they solve a complex problem: running arbitrary applications in a secure manner across a wide range of platforms. So any "simple" browser you can come up with just won't work in the real world (yes, that means being compatible with websites that normal people use).

> that means being compatible with websites that normal people use No, new adhering websites would emerge and word of mouth would do the rest : normal people would see this fast nerd-web and want rid of their bloated day-to-day monster of a web life. One can still hope..

Just like all those normal people want rid of their bloated day-to-day monster of a web and therefore go and do something like, say, install an ad blocker?

Oh right. 99% of people don't do even that, much less switch their life over to entirely new websites.

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#33

On a phone at the moment so I can't try it out, but in regards to this "stricter mode" it says global variables must be declared with var. I can't tell if that means that's just the only way to declare a global or if not declaring var makes it scoped in this mode. Based on not finding anything skimming through the examples, I assume the former?

I think it means you can't assign to unbounded names, you must either declare with var for global, or let/const for local

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#34
post #18
post #5

I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard and accompanying ecosystem with - A small and efficient JS subset, HTML, CSS - A family of very simple browsers that do just that - A new Web that adheres to the above That would make my year.

I think there needs to be a split between the web browser as a document renderer and link follower, and the web browser as a portable target for GUI applications. But frankly my biggest gripe is that you need HTML, JS, and CSS. Three distinct languages that are extremely dissimilar in syntax and semantics that you need all three of (or some bastard cross compiler for your JSX to convert from one format to them). Just…

I agree. Something componenty like Flash, yes. But it'd be easier to subset what already exists..

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#35
post #5

I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard and accompanying ecosystem with - A small and efficient JS subset, HTML, CSS - A family of very simple browsers that do just that - A new Web that adheres to the above That would make my year.

This would never happen because there's zero incentive to do this. Browsers are complex because they solve a complex problem: running arbitrary applications in a secure manner across a wide range of platforms. So any "simple" browser you can come up with just won't work in the real world (yes, that means being compatible with websites that normal people use).

I think both wearables and AI assistant could be an incentive on one hand, also towards a more HATEOAS web. However, I guess we haven't really figured out how to replace ad revenue as the primary incentive to make things as complex as possible.

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#36

I'm not an embedded systems guy (besides using esp32 boards) so this might be a dumb question but does something like this open up the possibility of programming an esp32/arduino board with Javascript, like Micro/Circuit Python?

Sort of related: About ten years ago there was a device called the Tessel by Technical Machine which you programmed with Javascript, npm, the whole nine yards. It was pretty clever - the javascript got transpiled to Lua VM bytecode and ran in the Lua VM on the device (a Cortex M3 I believe). I recently had Claude rewrite their old Node 0.8 CLI tools in Rust because I wasn't inclined to do the javascript archeology needed to get the old tools up and running. Of course then I put the Tessel back in its drawer, but fun nonetheless.

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#37

On a phone at the moment so I can't try it out, but in regards to this "stricter mode" it says global variables must be declared with var. I can't tell if that means that's just the only way to declare a global or if not declaring var makes it scoped in this mode. Based on not finding anything skimming through the examples, I assume the former?

I'm guessing the use of undeclared variables result in an error, instead of implicitly creating a global variable.

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#38
post #5

I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard and accompanying ecosystem with - A small and efficient JS subset, HTML, CSS - A family of very simple browsers that do just that - A new Web that adheres to the above That would make my year.

You mean like the piece of crap that was WAP?

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#39
post #5

I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard and accompanying ecosystem with - A small and efficient JS subset, HTML, CSS - A family of very simple browsers that do just that - A new Web that adheres to the above That would make my year.

You can already create websites to these standards. Then truncate large parts of webkit and create a new browser. Or base it on Servo.

Re: Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS

#40
post #5

I wish for this new year we reboot the Web with a super light standard and accompanying ecosystem with - A small and efficient JS subset, HTML, CSS - A family of very simple browsers that do just that - A new Web that adheres to the above That would make my year.

And also bring back progressive enhancement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_enhancement

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