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You can sort-of already do that with CDNs. Browser still has to parse+run all of that JS though. Because JS-in-browsers is antimodular in that all previous JS

You can sort-of already do that with CDNs. Browser still has to parse+run all of that JS though. Because JS-in-browsers is antimodular in that all previous JS on a given page influences all subsequently loaded JS, even if using just script tags with a URL. In a way this is very similar to the pains experienced by the C++ community for many years now.

amelius 12y ago
Could you elaborate on the C++ part?
- lomnakkus 12y ago
  The short answer is that "it's complicated". The most accessible long answer I'm aware of for non-C++'ers is at [1] (video). If you prefer text, the standardese version is at [2]. Unfortunately I cannot find a concise text version for laymen except perhaps [3]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xo9iH5VLQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xo9iH5VLQ0 [2]: http://www.open-std.org/Jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n4047.pdf http://www.open-std.org/Jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n404... [3]: http://clang.llvm.org/docs/Modules.html http://clang.llvm.org/docs/Modules.html
- DiThi 12y ago
  C++ doesn't have a "load this module" statement. I does have an "include all the contents of X file here", and file X has to deal with possible duplication and cyclic dependencies, usually with something like #ifndef _SOME_FILE_H #define _SOME_FILE_H // code goes here #endif Also any "module" can define any global variable, so name clashes (esp. with C libraries) are possible. Most languages with proper modules the "global" variables are module-wide. An equally nasty issue happens with JS, where many libraries must be loaded in the proper order and not duplicated. There are a bunch of module systems but none is part of the spec. The good thing is that module systems are easy to make thanks to closures.
jffry 12y ago
FYI you can add an async attribute [1] to a <script> tag to allow it to load and run asynchronously without blocking the rest of the page [1]: http://caniuse.com/#feat=script-async http://caniuse.com/#feat=script-async
- lomnakkus 12y ago
  Good point. Should've mentioned that. Unfortunately, it's often hard to know if "async" or "defer" will work reliably.

amelius 12y ago

Could you elaborate on the C++ part?

lomnakkus 12y ago
The short answer is that "it's complicated". The most accessible long answer I'm aware of for non-C++'ers is at [1] (video). If you prefer text, the standardese version is at [2]. Unfortunately I cannot find a concise text version for laymen except perhaps [3]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xo9iH5VLQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xo9iH5VLQ0 [2]: http://www.open-std.org/Jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n4047.pdf http://www.open-std.org/Jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2014/n404... [3]: http://clang.llvm.org/docs/Modules.html http://clang.llvm.org/docs/Modules.html
DiThi 12y ago
C++ doesn't have a "load this module" statement. I does have an "include all the contents of X file here", and file X has to deal with possible duplication and cyclic dependencies, usually with something like #ifndef _SOME_FILE_H #define _SOME_FILE_H // code goes here #endif Also any "module" can define any global variable, so name clashes (esp. with C libraries) are possible. Most languages with proper modules the "global" variables are module-wide. An equally nasty issue happens with JS, where many libraries must be loaded in the proper order and not duplicated. There are a bunch of module systems but none is part of the spec. The good thing is that module systems are easy to make thanks to closures.

jffry 12y ago

FYI you can add an async attribute [1] to a <script> tag to allow it to load and run asynchronously without blocking the rest of the page [1]: http://caniuse.com/#feat=script-async http://caniuse.com/#feat=script-async

lomnakkus 12y ago
Good point. Should've mentioned that. Unfortunately, it's often hard to know if "async" or "defer" will work reliably.