7 ms·

Well, Java bytecode already does that. The cool thing about WebAssembly is that runs (or will run) on any browser.

by randiantech 10y ago

kuschku 10y ago
Maybe they should have just used Java bytecode as WASM format? Then we’d have an entire existing ecosystem available.
- futurix 10y ago
  Not with Oracle being litigious pricks.
  - dawidloubser 10y ago
    Hear hear! Java was on a great trajectory before being stagnated by corporations and politics. Such a pity, because now we have to re-invent it. The silver lining, is that many things usually get better the second time around. Let's see what WASM hold - it's pretty limited in its current form.
    - kuschku 10y ago
      *The third time around FTFY. The second time around is usually so troubled by politics that there's an entire Wikipedia page about the topic of the second-version syndrome. And WebASM is in every way inferior to Java still.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
q3r3qr3q 10y ago
Like how Java used to?
ajross 10y ago
Java bytecode already did that too. The cool thing about WebAssembly is that we all think it might actually happen this time.
throwawaysbdi 10y ago
Is it just me or do Java applets seem like they were way the hell ahead of their time? If the sandbox didn't have so many holes in it Java applets were arguably better for webapps than the unholy mess we've cobbled together over the last ten years to replace them. It's sad to me that Java fell out of the browser and was replaced with a slow non standardized single threaded shit language for almost ten years just because Java didn't have DOM access. JavaScript is just nearing Java feature parity and still not anywhere close for performance. And I'll tell you what Java didn't have. A unfathomable clusterfuck of module systems, transpilers, shit build tools and IDE support, crazy syntax gotchas, unholy and inconsistent exception handling systems. God dammit what have we done. Shakes cane at neighborhood kids
- wybiral 10y ago
  The performance of JS these days, for such a dynamic language, is actually very impressive. If Java were our only option I assure you we'd have come up with all kinds of crazy alternative systems of doing things. Plus, targeting the JVM for weird transpiled language was what all of the cool kids did before doing it in JS became cool. This isn't unique to JS. It's probably unique to any language with that much adoption.
- orangecat 10y ago
  do Java applets seem like they were way the hell ahead of their time? Pretty much. If Sun had made a decent plugin instead of expecting every browser to roll their own VM, and if AWT had been a lot less buggy, it could have worked. A unfathomable clusterfuck of module systems, transpilers, shit build tools and IDE support, crazy syntax gotchas, unholy and inconsistent exception handling systems. Amen. It's ridiculous how many millions of engineer-hours have been spent trying to turn JS into a usable environment.
  - wybiral 10y ago
    > Amen. It's ridiculous how many millions of engineer-hours have been spent trying to turn JS into a usable environment. It's not just JS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_JVM_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_JVM_languages

Well, Java bytecode already does that. The cool thing about WebAssembly is that runs (or will run) on any browser.

kuschku 10y ago

Maybe they should have just used Java bytecode as WASM format? Then we’d have an entire existing ecosystem available.

futurix 10y ago
Not with Oracle being litigious pricks.
- dawidloubser 10y ago
  Hear hear! Java was on a great trajectory before being stagnated by corporations and politics. Such a pity, because now we have to re-invent it. The silver lining, is that many things usually get better the second time around. Let's see what WASM hold - it's pretty limited in its current form.
  - kuschku 10y ago
    *The third time around FTFY. The second time around is usually so troubled by politics that there's an entire Wikipedia page about the topic of the second-version syndrome. And WebASM is in every way inferior to Java still.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

q3r3qr3q 10y ago

Like how Java used to?

ajross 10y ago

Java bytecode already did that too. The cool thing about WebAssembly is that we all think it might actually happen this time.

throwawaysbdi 10y ago

Is it just me or do Java applets seem like they were way the hell ahead of their time? If the sandbox didn't have so many holes in it Java applets were arguably better for webapps than the unholy mess we've cobbled together over the last ten years to replace them. It's sad to me that Java fell out of the browser and was replaced with a slow non standardized single threaded shit language for almost ten years just because Java didn't have DOM access. JavaScript is just nearing Java feature parity and still not anywhere close for performance. And I'll tell you what Java didn't have. A unfathomable clusterfuck of module systems, transpilers, shit build tools and IDE support, crazy syntax gotchas, unholy and inconsistent exception handling systems. God dammit what have we done. Shakes cane at neighborhood kids

wybiral 10y ago
The performance of JS these days, for such a dynamic language, is actually very impressive. If Java were our only option I assure you we'd have come up with all kinds of crazy alternative systems of doing things. Plus, targeting the JVM for weird transpiled language was what all of the cool kids did before doing it in JS became cool. This isn't unique to JS. It's probably unique to any language with that much adoption.
orangecat 10y ago
do Java applets seem like they were way the hell ahead of their time? Pretty much. If Sun had made a decent plugin instead of expecting every browser to roll their own VM, and if AWT had been a lot less buggy, it could have worked. A unfathomable clusterfuck of module systems, transpilers, shit build tools and IDE support, crazy syntax gotchas, unholy and inconsistent exception handling systems. Amen. It's ridiculous how many millions of engineer-hours have been spent trying to turn JS into a usable environment.
- wybiral 10y ago
  > Amen. It's ridiculous how many millions of engineer-hours have been spent trying to turn JS into a usable environment. It's not just JS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_JVM_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_JVM_languages