Bringing asm.js to the Chakra JavaScript engine in Windows 10
Earlier today, we flipped asm.js to “In Development” at status.modern.ie. Support for asm.js has been one of the top 10 most-requested items at the IE Suggestion Box on UserVoice since we launched it in December.
Delivering an interoperable & spec compliant JavaScript engine with the capabilities and performance for modern experiences has been a key goal for us since the inception of Chakra. Bringing near-native performance for JavaScript code execution is a part of the same. We recently shared the details of some of the work we’ve done in Windows 10 to boost JavaScript execution speed in the Chakra engine.
Over the last few months we’ve taken a close look at asm.js as a technology, related technologies, and what they entail for the Web at large. While challenging to write by hand, asm.js is leveraged principally by transpiling C/C++ code to run on the Web platform, utilizing technologies such as WebGL and Web Audio. Asm.js is a clear step towards enabling near-native performance for the Web platform, which is why we’re excited to bring it to Chakra in an upcoming release.
Amongst other similar initiatives, asm.js as a technology has two key characteristics that we like:
- First and obvious is the boost to JavaScript execution speed, which we’ve already talked about. We believe that asm.js and the work we do to enable asm.js has the potential to provide speed benefits to many more scenarios over a period of time.
- Second but more importantly is the fact that asm.js is a pure subset of JavaScript and guarantees interoperability across platforms and browsers. This means that engines that support asm.js light up the new features, while engines that don’t will simply run with degraded performance. Since the beginning of Chakra, our team’s focus has always been to prioritize this approach to new functionality.
During this period, we’ve also been working closely with folks from the Firefox team who are working on asm.js, to learn from and partner with them to bring asm.js to the Chakra JavaScript engine.
We look forward to sharing more details and getting your feedback as we advance our implementation towards a preview state.
— Gaurav Seth, Principal PM Manager, Chakra Team
— Ed Maurer, Principal Group Software Engg. Manager, Chakra Team
Comments
Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Awesome news. This will be a game changer for data crunching web developers like me.Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Sounds really good. This is where Mozilla contributes for the entire web with its technologies.Anonymous
February 18, 2015
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February 18, 2015
This is fantastic news and I am very glad to hear it. Will make sure to use it thoroughly. :]Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Awesome. Excited for this!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Woohoo!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Wow! great work IE!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
This is what I've been expecting for so long.Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Thus is great news. The way Microsoft has escaped from its historical Not-Invented-Here hangups over the last couple of years has been really impressive to watch. Dare we hope that integration of something like Emscripten into Visual Studio is on somebody's roadmap? IIRC the current plugin only supports VS2010.Anonymous
February 18, 2015
So will this also be available to WinJS Modern apps?! and exposed via WebView in XAML Modern apps?!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Wow! great work IE!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Great to hear. ASM has opened up some very exciting possibilities for projects I'm working on - the wider and wicket the adoption the better :)Anonymous
February 18, 2015
@great news... - Yes. It is the same Chakra engine underneath both those.Anonymous
February 18, 2015
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February 18, 2015
Great. Another good News form microsoft. Keep it up...Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Great news. What about running Silverlight on top if asm.js?Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Now where are the people saying "just use webkit"? Great move IE team!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Too bad you didn't spend your time on Object.observe first. Polling is so ancient...Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Will it work on Windows 10 for phones?Anonymous
February 18, 2015
Nice guys! Can't wait to see it in action! Great Job!Anonymous
February 18, 2015
I am for new technology, ASM.JS sounds like assembly but it is just JavaScript that the browser still have to convert to assembly, I don't see any benefits, but hey, if the world wants :-)Anonymous
February 18, 2015
This is great news! Are you perhaps considering looking at native SIMD.js support at the same time?Anonymous
February 18, 2015
GhjjhnnAnonymous
February 19, 2015
Great news - next a Dart VM!Anonymous
February 19, 2015
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February 20, 2015
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February 20, 2015
@noname, it is reported that all Windows 7 and 8.1 would be able to receive the Windows 10 upgrade for free in the first year since its release.Anonymous
February 21, 2015
Sorry if I don't join in cheers with others here but I can't help this is going into a stupid direction. OK I understand the need for better speed, especially for applications such as gaming. I also understand the limitations and compatibility requirements of JS. Basically, asm.js is an assembly language, a kind of byte-code. "While challenging to write by hand", that's a very gentle way to put it :D It has 2 key characteristics which you accurately listed: 1. Speed boost; 2. compatibility: "guarantees interoperability across platforms and browsers." But the second one is just a lie. If your speed requirements are such that you need to introduce a new byte code into the browser to be usable, then performance is a feature and you're not backward compatible anyway. I just tried Quake JS in the latest IE11. Yes it ran. At 10 fps. Which is already quite impressive but I will stand no chance against other players at 60 fps. This is not "compatibility". So if you're introducing a new byte-code into the browser (and that's probably a good idea), which will be a breaking change for the applications that need it anyway, why don't you sit down and come up with a well designed byte-code? You have plenty of experience to do that. I fear that we'll come to regret this half-baked "js byte-code" in the future and wish we did something more intelligent, compact, extensible...Anonymous
February 21, 2015
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February 21, 2015
Thanks for this nice article. Keep it up. :) alquranonlinelearningAnonymous
February 21, 2015
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February 21, 2015
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February 22, 2015
JavaScript is assembly code after all... great news... a stepping stone to a better futureAnonymous
March 03, 2015
Amazing! Heh It'd be cool if they made a compiler like emscripten but for msvc and gave it the ability to compile modern apps for the web (Even if they used native languages!) then you could try out an app on a webpage and install the native version if you liked it. sort of like firefox OSAnonymous
March 12, 2015
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