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I can fully recognize that Java is a fast and powerful language, but it also makes me want to shove huge wooden slivers up my fingernails. That doesn't change d

I can fully recognize that Java is a fast and powerful language, but it also makes me want to shove huge wooden slivers up my fingernails. That doesn't change despite the truth of your statements.

calt 13y ago
But what the poster is really thinking of is the JVM. We now have Scala, Clojure, and others that target the JVM as a platform.
- Touche 13y ago
  The JVM doesn't run on Android or iOS, and never will. That's a huge chunk of users they can't touch, but the web can.
  - joshuacc 13y ago
    Aren't all Android apps running the JVM?
    - captainmuon 13y ago
      They run Dalvik, which is Googles proprietary VM. Its similar to the JVM in purpose, but it is supposed to avoid Oracle's patents and has a few specializations for mobile. AFAIK (I'm not a java developer), any language that can target the JVM can target Dalvik.
      - makomk 13y ago
        AFAIK, the only language that's officially supported by Dalvik is Java, and code in other languages tends to run into limitations in the bytecode-to-Dalvik translator.
  - CmonDev 13y ago
    Surely there is a Scala for it? Alternatively use Mono and C#/F#.
adamtj 13y ago
The issue is not any particular language but the platforms. Asm.js is an assembly language that gives native-code performance to browsers that's theoretically on-par with the JVMs' JITs. You can think of asm.js as a bytecode (like JVM bytecode) that all browsers can interpret. Some browsers are now getting JITs for this "bytecode". You don't write asm.js in the same way that you don't write assembly or JVM bytecode by hand. You write Java or Clojure or Scala or C or Haskell. Your compiler then turns that into either JVM bytecodes or asm.js assembly. And your JVM or browser will JIT that bytecode into native code. The real issue now is that the JVM is currently a more capable platform, but the browser has broader penetration and arguably better security. Raw performance is becoming a non-issue with asm.js.
- aidenn0 13y ago
  Actually asm.js is possible to AOT compile, not just JIT.
- casperc 13y ago
  On a related note, are there anything preventing a language like Clojure(script) that already targets the browser to target asm.js instead? What would the advantages and disadvantages be (if any)?

I can fully recognize that Java is a fast and powerful language, but it also makes me want to shove huge wooden slivers up my fingernails. That doesn't change despite the truth of your statements.

calt 13y ago

But what the poster is really thinking of is the JVM. We now have Scala, Clojure, and others that target the JVM as a platform.

Touche 13y ago
The JVM doesn't run on Android or iOS, and never will. That's a huge chunk of users they can't touch, but the web can.
- joshuacc 13y ago
  Aren't all Android apps running the JVM?
  - captainmuon 13y ago
    They run Dalvik, which is Googles proprietary VM. Its similar to the JVM in purpose, but it is supposed to avoid Oracle's patents and has a few specializations for mobile. AFAIK (I'm not a java developer), any language that can target the JVM can target Dalvik.
    - makomk 13y ago
      AFAIK, the only language that's officially supported by Dalvik is Java, and code in other languages tends to run into limitations in the bytecode-to-Dalvik translator.
- CmonDev 13y ago
  Surely there is a Scala for it? Alternatively use Mono and C#/F#.

adamtj 13y ago

The issue is not any particular language but the platforms. Asm.js is an assembly language that gives native-code performance to browsers that's theoretically on-par with the JVMs' JITs. You can think of asm.js as a bytecode (like JVM bytecode) that all browsers can interpret. Some browsers are now getting JITs for this "bytecode". You don't write asm.js in the same way that you don't write assembly or JVM bytecode by hand. You write Java or Clojure or Scala or C or Haskell. Your compiler then turns that into either JVM bytecodes or asm.js assembly. And your JVM or browser will JIT that bytecode into native code. The real issue now is that the JVM is currently a more capable platform, but the browser has broader penetration and arguably better security. Raw performance is becoming a non-issue with asm.js.

aidenn0 13y ago
Actually asm.js is possible to AOT compile, not just JIT.
casperc 13y ago
On a related note, are there anything preventing a language like Clojure(script) that already targets the browser to target asm.js instead? What would the advantages and disadvantages be (if any)?