Posted on 05/09/2015 6:39:42 AM PDT by dayglored
Original full title/subtitle:
Microsoft's secret weapon in browser wars: Mozilla's supercharged Asm.js
Native-speed JavaScript available now in Windows 10's Edge browser
Microsoft has included a surprise feature in its new Edge web browser for Windows 10, in the form of support for the ultra-optimizable Asm.js JavaScript dialect.
First developed by Mozilla and championed by the nonprofit's former CTO Brendon Eich, Asm.js is a strict subset of JavaScript that aims to be the "assembly language of the web."
By eliminating many of the vagaries of the JavaScript language syntax, Asm.js forces client-side web code into a form that is easy for Just-In-Time compilers to parse and optimize.
In many cases, Asm.js code can be compiled into native binaries that execute as fast as code written in C or C++ – as evidenced by impressive 3D gaming demos like the one that was developed jointly by Mozilla and Unity earlier this year.
To gain the benefits, though, explicit support for Asm.js must be built into the browser. And while support is already present in Firefox and Chrome (albeit reluctantly), Microsoft hasn't said much about it until now.
In a Thursday blog post, Microsoft's Edge team said Asm.js support was one of the ten most requested features submitted to the Microsoft Edge Developer Suggestion Box. What's more, not only has Redmond listened, but experimental Asm.js support is already available in the version of Edge that shipped with the current version of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, Build 10074.
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(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Microsoft says it plans to gather more data from the preview builds of Edge to determine whether its current approach to Asm.js is working before enabling support by default.
Once it's satisfied, however, the plan is to enable Asm.js not only within Edge but also for HTML/JavaScript apps sold through the Windows Store, which target Windows 10's EdgeHTML rendering engine.
Microsoft is accepting feedback on Asm.js support and all things Edge on Twitter and its own Connect web forums.
Standardization is good. Customization can be good.
There’s some tension between the two. MSFT under Ballmer went too far to the customization side, and didn’t play well with others.
Will script blockers work against this?
I guess it depends on how the blocker is written, and what it recognizes. Dunno about any specific ones.
Ya think???
Embrace - Extend - Extinguish was the Microsoft Way.
Nice to see it getting moderated.
In Roman times, Ballmer would have been one of the most enthusiastic practitioners of decimation to motivate his troops. Looked like an anger/fear motivator to me...
I curious about this too since JAVA is easy to exploit by mischief makers.
Java is something else entirely -- a language for apps and applets.
JavaScript actually has little or nothing to do with Java. The name was a largely bogus attempt to cash in on the name of Java and build an apparent association.
Although it was developed under the name Mocha, the language was officially called LiveScript when it first shipped in beta releases of Netscape Navigator 2.0 in September 1995, but it was renamed JavaScript[10] when it was deployed in the Netscape browser version 2.0B3.[11]WikipediaThe change of name from LiveScript to JavaScript roughly coincided with Netscape adding support for Java technology in its Netscape Navigator web browser. The final choice of name caused confusion, giving the impression that the language was a spin-off of the Java programming language, and the choice has been characterized as a marketing ploy by Netscape to give JavaScript the cachet of what was then the hot new web programming language.[12][13]
Java and Javascript, although similarly named, are two completely different things (but neither is immune to exploit)
...Microsoft has included a surprise feature in its new Edge web browser for Windows 10, in the form of support for the ultra-optimizable Asm.js JavaScript dialect. First developed by Mozilla and championed by the nonprofit's former CTO Brendon Eich...
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