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CSS is also interpreted. CSS is actually compiled. WebKit uses a Just In Time (JIT) compiler [1]; I suspect all modern web engines do something similar. [1]:

CSS is also interpreted. CSS is actually compiled. WebKit uses a Just In Time (JIT) compiler [1]; I suspect all modern web engines do something similar. [1]: https://webkit.org/blog/3271/webkit-css-selector-jit-compiler/ https://webkit.org/blog/3271/webkit-css-selector-jit-compile...

naasking 4y ago
By that argument JavaScript is also compiled, so this point is wrong no matter how you interpret it: if "interpreted" means source code is transmitted and then executed in whatever fashion, then both JS and CSS are interpreted, if "interpreted" means a specific execution model on the client machine, then they are both JIT compiled and neither are interpreted.
- alwillis 4y ago
  By that argument JavaScript is also compiled, so this point is wrong no matter how you interpret it… The primary difference between a traditionally compiled language (like C) and CSS and JavaScript is C is compiled before execution and CSS and JavaScript are compiled during execution. There’s a reason why JIT stands for Just In Time compilation [1]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_compilation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_compilation
  - naasking 4y ago
    Yes I know the difference, the point is that the original poster said CSS is faster because JS is interpreted. There is no way to intrepret that statement in a way that makes sense.
    - ghusbands 4y ago
      Sure there is - some people use interpreted to mean step-by-step, as in imperative. "CSS is faster because JS is imperative" is a charitable and correct reading.
      - kaba0 4y ago
        But that is not correct, js is not interpreted/executed step-by-step in many cases (it is a bit more complicated, there are multiple interpreters and JIT compiler in the picture, it usually is started up by interpreting but then switched to JIT compiled native machine code). The correct difference to make is the execution model, one being basically a Turing machine while the other is more similar to logic programming languages.
- bryanrasmussen 4y ago
  >By that argument JavaScript is also compiled, so this point is wrong no matter how you interpret it: If JavaScript is not compiled how does hoisting work?

naasking 4y ago

By that argument JavaScript is also compiled, so this point is wrong no matter how you interpret it: if "interpreted" means source code is transmitted and then executed in whatever fashion, then both JS and CSS are interpreted, if "interpreted" means a specific execution model on the client machine, then they are both JIT compiled and neither are interpreted.

alwillis 4y ago
By that argument JavaScript is also compiled, so this point is wrong no matter how you interpret it… The primary difference between a traditionally compiled language (like C) and CSS and JavaScript is C is compiled before execution and CSS and JavaScript are compiled during execution. There’s a reason why JIT stands for Just In Time compilation [1]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_compilation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_compilation
- naasking 4y ago
  Yes I know the difference, the point is that the original poster said CSS is faster because JS is interpreted. There is no way to intrepret that statement in a way that makes sense.
  - ghusbands 4y ago
    Sure there is - some people use interpreted to mean step-by-step, as in imperative. "CSS is faster because JS is imperative" is a charitable and correct reading.
    - kaba0 4y ago
      But that is not correct, js is not interpreted/executed step-by-step in many cases (it is a bit more complicated, there are multiple interpreters and JIT compiler in the picture, it usually is started up by interpreting but then switched to JIT compiled native machine code). The correct difference to make is the execution model, one being basically a Turing machine while the other is more similar to logic programming languages.
bryanrasmussen 4y ago
>By that argument JavaScript is also compiled, so this point is wrong no matter how you interpret it: If JavaScript is not compiled how does hoisting work?