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I've wondered about this too and my best guess it that writing a good optimizing compiler for a dynamic language like Ruby or Javascript is quite difficult and
by cageface 12y ago
I've wondered about this too and my best guess it that writing a good optimizing compiler for a dynamic language like Ruby or Javascript is quite difficult and beyond the abilities of most developers. The JS engines in the major browsers are only fast because tremendous resources have been devoted to making them fast. I don't think PyPy or Rubinius have had anything close to the same level of investment. This is why I think JS is pretty much guaranteed to "win" the dynamic language race in the long run.
- pjmlp 12y agoAlongside Julia, most likely.
- MrBra 12y agoYou're reasoning is taking a bit too much for granted that the best engineered solutions will be the ones coming off big corporations investments but in this field this has been proven wrong many times... that's not always the one and only win factor.. fortunately.
- cageface 12y agoIt's true that LuaJit is mostly the work of one person, as far as I understand. Maybe talent does take precedence in most cases. But the incentive for browser developers to improve and optimize JS is just vastly stronger, despite its flaws, for practical reasons. The impact of the work is just orders of magnitude larger.