3 ms·

Speed in relative terms means that JavaScript in the browser is not fast. The language runs on top of just about as many abstraction layers as possible and I do

by heyoni 6y ago

Speed in relative terms means that JavaScript in the browser is not fast. The language runs on top of just about as many abstraction layers as possible and I do not envy this world you describe. I wish we’d move away from it.

crazygringo 6y ago
But it's fast enough. JIT compilation means algorithms run decently fast, and when it deals with the DOM it's fast enough for everyday interface tasks. Nobody's saying it's elegant. But it's cross-platform and it's a standard that lots of people know. Wishing we move away from it seems like a lost battle at this point -- at least unless we somehow invent a brand-new computing paradigm that replaces browsers, the way browsers have replaced apps in many cases. But I can't even imagine what that might ever be.
- heyoni 6y ago
  It’s not though. Not even close. And I know this partially a matter of taste but I have one of the fastest computers you can buy and I can’t even participate in text chats without input lag and delays in interaction. It’s not a good user experience for me at least but that’s ok, we’ll keep stacking more cpu power until it’s all in the cloud anyways.
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    That just sounds like server latency to me or some kind of bad programming like relying on polling. Obviously if you build a chat client in the browser and communicate between windows then it's instantaneous. Faster than human perception. Certainly doesn't seem to be a CPU issue to me. I mean, we run videochat in the browser which works fine. Obviously text chat can be instant.
    - heyoni 6y ago
      I’m talking about the native slack app. I used to use the irc gateway and now go back and forth between desktop and unofficial gateways. I use keyboard shortcuts to navigate between chat windows and nothing about it is instantaneous...even when there’s nothing but text. Same thing applies to discord, and less so with WhatsApp and signal. Messages on the other hand is silky smooth, and terminal irc couldn’t get any faster.
    - jfkebwjsbx 6y ago
      You run hardware accelerated video, or in some cases SIMD hand-tuned native codecs. That is in the opposite side of where the abstraction that the web provides is.

by heyoni 6y ago

crazygringo 6y ago

But it's fast enough. JIT compilation means algorithms run decently fast, and when it deals with the DOM it's fast enough for everyday interface tasks. Nobody's saying it's elegant. But it's cross-platform and it's a standard that lots of people know. Wishing we move away from it seems like a lost battle at this point -- at least unless we somehow invent a brand-new computing paradigm that replaces browsers, the way browsers have replaced apps in many cases. But I can't even imagine what that might ever be.

heyoni 6y ago
It’s not though. Not even close. And I know this partially a matter of taste but I have one of the fastest computers you can buy and I can’t even participate in text chats without input lag and delays in interaction. It’s not a good user experience for me at least but that’s ok, we’ll keep stacking more cpu power until it’s all in the cloud anyways.
- crazygringo 6y ago
  That just sounds like server latency to me or some kind of bad programming like relying on polling. Obviously if you build a chat client in the browser and communicate between windows then it's instantaneous. Faster than human perception. Certainly doesn't seem to be a CPU issue to me. I mean, we run videochat in the browser which works fine. Obviously text chat can be instant.
  - heyoni 6y ago
    I’m talking about the native slack app. I used to use the irc gateway and now go back and forth between desktop and unofficial gateways. I use keyboard shortcuts to navigate between chat windows and nothing about it is instantaneous...even when there’s nothing but text. Same thing applies to discord, and less so with WhatsApp and signal. Messages on the other hand is silky smooth, and terminal irc couldn’t get any faster.
  - jfkebwjsbx 6y ago
    You run hardware accelerated video, or in some cases SIMD hand-tuned native codecs. That is in the opposite side of where the abstraction that the web provides is.