3 ms·

Future of JavaScript vs. WebAssembly. Will JavaScript Co-Exist?

5 points by rammy1234 9y ago

Is webassembly will replace javascript by being the target runtime for browsers upon. I am new and got introduced to webassembly recently and I am wondering what is the roadmap for javascript

bobajeff 9y ago
JavaScript is still being developed. Browser makers are not slowing down on adding JavaScript features. There is even a Binary AST proposal for JavaScript.
krapp 9y ago
No. First, removing javascript support in browsers would deprecate the functionality of all of the JS code currently running on the web, which would by extension break the web for almost everyone. So, if only for the sake of backwards compatibility, browsers must support javascript for the forseeable future. Second, the WebAssembly project's own FAQ[0] states that "WebAssembly is designed to be a complement to, not replacement of, JavaScript." Third, compiling languages to WebAssembly will always be a more complex process than writing javascript - although I state that with the caveat that a lot of javascript is, itself, compiled or transpiled nowadays, because that's not actually necessary. Having a text based, interpreted scripting language running in the browser provides a degree of convenience and simplicity that WebAssembly can't directly replicate. To me, this indicates that javascript won't even be implemented as something like a WebAssembly module by default, although that is possible. Plenty of people do plan to try as hard as they can to replace javascript with languages that compile to WebAssembly, and it will probably replace the paradigm of languages "compiling to javascript" as it provides an actual bytecode instead of pretending javascript is bytecode, but like it or not javascript isn't going away anytime soon. [0]http://webassembly.org/docs/faq/ http://webassembly.org/docs/faq/
- rammy1234 9y ago
  detailed one. thanks. will have to read more on the compelling reasons for Webassembly and Browser Engines are going to support them in parallel with Javascript. thanks for the link.

5 points by rammy1234 9y ago

Is webassembly will replace javascript by being the target runtime for browsers upon. I am new and got introduced to webassembly recently and I am wondering what is the roadmap for javascript

bobajeff 9y ago

JavaScript is still being developed. Browser makers are not slowing down on adding JavaScript features. There is even a Binary AST proposal for JavaScript.

krapp 9y ago

No. First, removing javascript support in browsers would deprecate the functionality of all of the JS code currently running on the web, which would by extension break the web for almost everyone. So, if only for the sake of backwards compatibility, browsers must support javascript for the forseeable future. Second, the WebAssembly project's own FAQ[0] states that "WebAssembly is designed to be a complement to, not replacement of, JavaScript." Third, compiling languages to WebAssembly will always be a more complex process than writing javascript - although I state that with the caveat that a lot of javascript is, itself, compiled or transpiled nowadays, because that's not actually necessary. Having a text based, interpreted scripting language running in the browser provides a degree of convenience and simplicity that WebAssembly can't directly replicate. To me, this indicates that javascript won't even be implemented as something like a WebAssembly module by default, although that is possible. Plenty of people do plan to try as hard as they can to replace javascript with languages that compile to WebAssembly, and it will probably replace the paradigm of languages "compiling to javascript" as it provides an actual bytecode instead of pretending javascript is bytecode, but like it or not javascript isn't going away anytime soon. [0]http://webassembly.org/docs/faq/ http://webassembly.org/docs/faq/

rammy1234 9y ago
detailed one. thanks. will have to read more on the compelling reasons for Webassembly and Browser Engines are going to support them in parallel with Javascript. thanks for the link.