4 ms·

I'm curious whether this is any indication that WebKit is going to start catching up on WebAssembly features: they're currently pretty far behind both Chrome an

by sestep 3y ago

I'm curious whether this is any indication that WebKit is going to start catching up on WebAssembly features: they're currently pretty far behind both Chrome and Firefox, lacking big important ones like multiple memories and garbage collection.

CharlesW 3y ago
Both of those are in standardization, not yet part of the Wasm spec. Google has more of a "Ready! Fire! Aim! Fire again!" approach and is more readily amenable to releasing implementations of unfinished specs, where Apple has more of a "Ready! Aim! Aim! Fire!" approach and is generally reluctant to do that. (I can't speak for Firefox.)
- bemusedthrow75 3y ago
  There's definitely a late adopter/early adopter divide here. I have found myself wondering what good examples there are of successful (Ready Fire Aim) early-draft-standard adoption on the web. CSS in early Internet Explorer is one of them -- that was a choice that ended a ridiculous, unworkable not-invented-here adventure at Netscape. But on the flip side, I am reminded of (Google) Gears, which was promoted as a solution but was really only a technology demonstrator for the idea that ultimately surfaced as Web Workers.
  - JimDabell 3y ago
    I wouldn’t use CSS in early Internet Explorer as a good example. There were quite a few cases where they shipped something prematurely based off an early draft, then the final spec. changed, making Internet Explorer incompatible with the standards and other browsers. That’s how the box model ended up the way that it did, for example. The draft was originally border-box behaviour, Internet Explorer implemented it too soon, then the specification changed to content-box behaviour and all the other browsers implemented it.
    - bemusedthrow75 3y ago
      Yes. But bad box model is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- compared to where we would be if JSSS had become a de facto standard. It was a total mess, and an arrogant one at that.
      - JimDabell 3y ago
        I agree that JSSS was a poor choice, but Internet Explorer tried sneaking JScript into CSS in a few different ways, which wasn’t great for security or interoperability.

by sestep 3y ago

CharlesW 3y ago

Both of those are in standardization, not yet part of the Wasm spec. Google has more of a "Ready! Fire! Aim! Fire again!" approach and is more readily amenable to releasing implementations of unfinished specs, where Apple has more of a "Ready! Aim! Aim! Fire!" approach and is generally reluctant to do that. (I can't speak for Firefox.)

bemusedthrow75 3y ago
There's definitely a late adopter/early adopter divide here. I have found myself wondering what good examples there are of successful (Ready Fire Aim) early-draft-standard adoption on the web. CSS in early Internet Explorer is one of them -- that was a choice that ended a ridiculous, unworkable not-invented-here adventure at Netscape. But on the flip side, I am reminded of (Google) Gears, which was promoted as a solution but was really only a technology demonstrator for the idea that ultimately surfaced as Web Workers.
- JimDabell 3y ago
  I wouldn’t use CSS in early Internet Explorer as a good example. There were quite a few cases where they shipped something prematurely based off an early draft, then the final spec. changed, making Internet Explorer incompatible with the standards and other browsers. That’s how the box model ended up the way that it did, for example. The draft was originally border-box behaviour, Internet Explorer implemented it too soon, then the specification changed to content-box behaviour and all the other browsers implemented it.
  - bemusedthrow75 3y ago
    Yes. But bad box model is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- compared to where we would be if JSSS had become a de facto standard. It was a total mess, and an arrogant one at that.
    - JimDabell 3y ago
      I agree that JSSS was a poor choice, but Internet Explorer tried sneaking JScript into CSS in a few different ways, which wasn’t great for security or interoperability.