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This is so cool. I love to see Javascript used for stuff like this. It blew my mind that the James Webb Telescope uses a custom Javascript runtime for a lot of

This is so cool. I love to see Javascript used for stuff like this. It blew my mind that the James Webb Telescope uses a custom Javascript runtime for a lot of the onboard functions.

spankalee 2y ago
The SpaceX Dragon capsule touchscreens run an HTML/JS app built using web components (Polymer) :D
bigstrat2003 2y ago
That's horrifying. Javascript doesn't belong anywhere near anything which isn't a web page, and even then it's questionable.
- phist_mcgee 2y ago
  Maybe the engineers at NASA know what they're doing?
  - ClassyJacket 2y ago
    As a JavaScript hater, I admit they surely they do, but I'm still curious as to why it was the best choice. If it's a custom runtime, existing runtimes being reliable\secure\well understood by existing engineers isn't relevant. And it's not like they're adding in lots of external libraries either. I found this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 " The language itself wasn’t so important as having adequate performance, robustness, memory use, reproducibility and extreme QC" but I still don't understand. Interesting they went with a language that doesn't even have integers. At least the comments on this reddit thread have some hilarious jokes: https://old.reddit.com/r/javascript/comments/wrtny3/the_james_webb_space_telescope_runs_javascript/ https://old.reddit.com/r/javascript/comments/wrtny3/the_jame... Looks like they released a paper, the abstract of which, indicates it's not a fully custom runtime, which would make more sense: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstract https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstra... Unfortunately they want money to read the rest of it and I'm curious but not that curious, and I probably wouldn't understand it anyway.
    - phist_mcgee 2y ago
      It's a very readable paper. The paper's DOI is 10.1117/12.671403, and you can read it for free on Sci Hub.
      - ClassyJacket 2y ago
        Thanks. Yeah, I thought of that, but I'm at work at a place where I very much should not be having Sci Hub in my browsing log.
  - tetris11 2y ago
    no one's doubting it, but they still want to know the reason because it goes contrary to the expectations of most developers here, even the JavaScript fans
risenshinetech 2y ago
Why do you love to see a particular language used for something? It would be like being excited at seeing someone using aluminum to build something over steel/wood/etc.
- leetharris 2y ago
  Sorry, late reply, but I think it's still worth answering. I think Javascript is a really fun language. I've done a lot of embedded C and it can be... exhausting? I would love to try Javascript on an embedded system, IoT device, etc. I'll bet a lot of the most annoying stuff can be abstracted away pretty easily on modern hardware.
- aembleton 2y ago
  Not the parent, but I like seeing particular languages used for something like this because it may be a langauge that I am familiar with along with all of its libraries and tooling. This makes a project like this that interacts with hardware easier to acheive.
- pengaru 2y ago
  tribes
  - sbarre 2y ago
    What a cynical take, especially here in a community that should be celebrating novel uses of technology, whether it would be your choice or not.
    - verbalstoner 2y ago
      There is nothing new about using JS for UI, as that is the only place it belongs.
- bl4ckneon 2y ago
  It's also intresting to see a language used in a way it's not intended to necessarily our for a creative/unique use. Why do people like to port doom to random devices, because it was never indended to run on those (and it's a challenge/meme at this point)
ClassyJacket 2y ago
That's mind blowing, so I looked it up. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 Still not sure why they chose JavaScript. According to their paper it's a commercial JavaScript engine however: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstract https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstra...

This is so cool. I love to see Javascript used for stuff like this. It blew my mind that the James Webb Telescope uses a custom Javascript runtime for a lot of the onboard functions.

spankalee 2y ago

The SpaceX Dragon capsule touchscreens run an HTML/JS app built using web components (Polymer) :D

bigstrat2003 2y ago

That's horrifying. Javascript doesn't belong anywhere near anything which isn't a web page, and even then it's questionable.

phist_mcgee 2y ago
Maybe the engineers at NASA know what they're doing?
- ClassyJacket 2y ago
  As a JavaScript hater, I admit they surely they do, but I'm still curious as to why it was the best choice. If it's a custom runtime, existing runtimes being reliable\secure\well understood by existing engineers isn't relevant. And it's not like they're adding in lots of external libraries either. I found this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 " The language itself wasn’t so important as having adequate performance, robustness, memory use, reproducibility and extreme QC" but I still don't understand. Interesting they went with a language that doesn't even have integers. At least the comments on this reddit thread have some hilarious jokes: https://old.reddit.com/r/javascript/comments/wrtny3/the_james_webb_space_telescope_runs_javascript/ https://old.reddit.com/r/javascript/comments/wrtny3/the_jame... Looks like they released a paper, the abstract of which, indicates it's not a fully custom runtime, which would make more sense: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstract https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstra... Unfortunately they want money to read the rest of it and I'm curious but not that curious, and I probably wouldn't understand it anyway.
  - phist_mcgee 2y ago
    It's a very readable paper. The paper's DOI is 10.1117/12.671403, and you can read it for free on Sci Hub.
    - ClassyJacket 2y ago
      Thanks. Yeah, I thought of that, but I'm at work at a place where I very much should not be having Sci Hub in my browsing log.
- tetris11 2y ago
  no one's doubting it, but they still want to know the reason because it goes contrary to the expectations of most developers here, even the JavaScript fans

risenshinetech 2y ago

Why do you love to see a particular language used for something? It would be like being excited at seeing someone using aluminum to build something over steel/wood/etc.

leetharris 2y ago
Sorry, late reply, but I think it's still worth answering. I think Javascript is a really fun language. I've done a lot of embedded C and it can be... exhausting? I would love to try Javascript on an embedded system, IoT device, etc. I'll bet a lot of the most annoying stuff can be abstracted away pretty easily on modern hardware.
aembleton 2y ago
Not the parent, but I like seeing particular languages used for something like this because it may be a langauge that I am familiar with along with all of its libraries and tooling. This makes a project like this that interacts with hardware easier to acheive.
pengaru 2y ago
tribes
- sbarre 2y ago
  What a cynical take, especially here in a community that should be celebrating novel uses of technology, whether it would be your choice or not.
  - verbalstoner 2y ago
    There is nothing new about using JS for UI, as that is the only place it belongs.
bl4ckneon 2y ago
It's also intresting to see a language used in a way it's not intended to necessarily our for a creative/unique use. Why do people like to port doom to random devices, because it was never indended to run on those (and it's a challenge/meme at this point)

ClassyJacket 2y ago

That's mind blowing, so I looked it up. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19739454 Still not sure why they chose JavaScript. According to their paper it's a commercial JavaScript engine however: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstract https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006SPIE.6274E..0AB/abstra...