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JavaScript is really easily "openable." It's actually really easy to run most of it through a beautifier. Take even something as insane as the contents of http:

JavaScript is really easily "openable." It's actually really easy to run most of it through a beautifier. Take even something as insane as the contents of http://jsbin.com/OhisIQAW/1/source http://jsbin.com/OhisIQAW/1/source (uses nothing but symbols to run `alert("I love you.")`) and the magic becomes a lot more visible. Running the first statement will give you an object filled with numbers 0-9 and letters a-f. The second statement, when run, outputs the string "constructor" by messing with references to the first object. With a little bit of dedicated work, you can easily learn how anything is done in JS (well, besides Asm.js but that's beside the point) because it is, at its highest level, a language made to bridge between APIs. The only good thing about it is its widespread support and debuggability. Oh, and the reasoning behind the "one character method names" mentioned: It's for minification of code, because we don't live in a world with infinite resources. If the FSF donated to me to keep my code "open" then I'd gladly keep it un-minified. Even when "obfuscated", though, it's pretty trivial to undo. [1] [1]: http://features.jsomers.net/how-i-reverse-engineered-google-docs/ http://features.jsomers.net/how-i-reverse-engineered-google-...

TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
Even asm.js is openable, it's pretty much just C with weird syntax - despite the name. Although almost all your type info's gone, which makes interpreting it a wee bit hard.
- mambodog 12y ago
  Not exactly, it's more like LLVM IR with a weird syntax[0] [0] http://llvm.org/devmtg/2013-11/slides/Zakai-Emscripten.pdf http://llvm.org/devmtg/2013-11/slides/Zakai-Emscripten.pdf
  - TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
    Ah, true. Although asm.js code is probably more C-like than LLVM IR is, given you have to decompile gotos back into ifs and loops, operations back into expressions, etc. (See page 23 onwards)
streptomycin 12y ago
Free software isn't about the freedom to somehow look at code. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
- striking 12y ago
  Almost all JavaScript is easily changeable and replaceable and oftentimes being able to figure out what it's doing is a matter of intuition and a little imagination. Even the code of Google Docs isn't really that hard to understand if you tilt your head and squint a little. Obfuscation of C or otherwise native code can prevent people from modifying it or learning from it, and that is a problem to some people. However, that doesn't seem to exist in my view of JavaScript. It has never been a real problem as far as I have seen. I am open to seeing examples that I truly could not understand.
  - Retra 12y ago
    Well soldier on and rewrite all the javaScript on the web already.

TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago

Even asm.js is openable, it's pretty much just C with weird syntax - despite the name. Although almost all your type info's gone, which makes interpreting it a wee bit hard.

mambodog 12y ago
Not exactly, it's more like LLVM IR with a weird syntax[0] [0] http://llvm.org/devmtg/2013-11/slides/Zakai-Emscripten.pdf http://llvm.org/devmtg/2013-11/slides/Zakai-Emscripten.pdf
- TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
  Ah, true. Although asm.js code is probably more C-like than LLVM IR is, given you have to decompile gotos back into ifs and loops, operations back into expressions, etc. (See page 23 onwards)

streptomycin 12y ago

Free software isn't about the freedom to somehow look at code. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

striking 12y ago
Almost all JavaScript is easily changeable and replaceable and oftentimes being able to figure out what it's doing is a matter of intuition and a little imagination. Even the code of Google Docs isn't really that hard to understand if you tilt your head and squint a little. Obfuscation of C or otherwise native code can prevent people from modifying it or learning from it, and that is a problem to some people. However, that doesn't seem to exist in my view of JavaScript. It has never been a real problem as far as I have seen. I am open to seeing examples that I truly could not understand.
- Retra 12y ago
  Well soldier on and rewrite all the javaScript on the web already.