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Here's some perspective for where this project is coming from: > So, a joint team from Mozilla and Facebook decided to get started working on a novel mechanism

Here's some perspective for where this project is coming from: > So, a joint team from Mozilla and Facebook decided to get started working on a novel mechanism that we believe can dramatically improve the speed at which an application can start executing its JavaScript: the Binary AST. I really like the organization of the present article, the author really answered all the questions I had, in an orderly manner. I'll use this format as a template for my own writing. Thanks! Personally, I don't see the appeal for such a thing, and seems unlikely all browsers would implement it. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

lj3 9y ago
All they have to do is convince Google. Chrome's the king of the castle right now.
- markdog12 9y ago
  Native Client
  - lj3 9y ago
    Firefox had a much higher market share than Chrome back then. Context matters.
    - markdog12 9y ago
      Mozilla and others had pretty strong technical objections to Native Client. Context matters (sometimes :))
      - lj3 9y ago
        Oh, I think I misunderstood you. You mean the AST is going to go the way of Native Client because Mozilla doesn't have the muscle it used to? Or do you think Google's going to sandbag it as revenge for Native Client? :)
        markdog12 9y ago
        Sorry, to clarify: > All they have to do is convince Google. Chrome's the king of the castle right now. When I replied "Native Client", I was giving an example where Chrome came out with something the other browser vendors rejected on technical grounds. I love this development (Binary AST) and hope it's adopted.
majewsky 9y ago
> Personally, I don't see the appeal for such a thing, and seems unlikely all browsers would implement it. Facebook can just run a feature detection JS snippet to see if your browser supports the Binary AST, and select the URLs of the other JS assets accordingly. If Binary AST is a thing, I can easily see web frameworks implementing such a format selection transparently. And hey, if it contributes to people perceiving Firefox as faster than Chrome, I'm all for it. :)
alangpierce 9y ago
> seems unlikely all browsers would implement it It's going through TC39 (the committee that decides how the JavaScript language should evolve) and recently reached stage 1 (proposals advance from stage 0 to stage 4). I believe that if it reaches stage 4, then that means that all browser vendors have agreed to implement it, so it certainly seems to be their goal.

lj3 9y ago

All they have to do is convince Google. Chrome's the king of the castle right now.

markdog12 9y ago
Native Client
- lj3 9y ago
  Firefox had a much higher market share than Chrome back then. Context matters.
  - markdog12 9y ago
    Mozilla and others had pretty strong technical objections to Native Client. Context matters (sometimes :))
    - lj3 9y ago
      Oh, I think I misunderstood you. You mean the AST is going to go the way of Native Client because Mozilla doesn't have the muscle it used to? Or do you think Google's going to sandbag it as revenge for Native Client? :)
      - markdog12 9y ago
        Sorry, to clarify: > All they have to do is convince Google. Chrome's the king of the castle right now. When I replied "Native Client", I was giving an example where Chrome came out with something the other browser vendors rejected on technical grounds. I love this development (Binary AST) and hope it's adopted.

majewsky 9y ago

> Personally, I don't see the appeal for such a thing, and seems unlikely all browsers would implement it. Facebook can just run a feature detection JS snippet to see if your browser supports the Binary AST, and select the URLs of the other JS assets accordingly. If Binary AST is a thing, I can easily see web frameworks implementing such a format selection transparently. And hey, if it contributes to people perceiving Firefox as faster than Chrome, I'm all for it. :)

alangpierce 9y ago

> seems unlikely all browsers would implement it It's going through TC39 (the committee that decides how the JavaScript language should evolve) and recently reached stage 1 (proposals advance from stage 0 to stage 4). I believe that if it reaches stage 4, then that means that all browser vendors have agreed to implement it, so it certainly seems to be their goal.