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The Next Browser Scripting Language Is — C?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the a-home-for-all-of-that-old-code dept.

mad.frog writes to tell us that in a recent talk by Adobe's Scott Petersen he demonstrated a new toolchain that he has been working on (and soon to be open-sourced) that allows C code to be run by the Tamarin virtual machine. "The toolchain includes lots of other details, such as a custom POSIX system call API and a C multimedia library that provides access to Flash. And there's some things that Petersen had to add to Tamarin, such as a native byte array that maps directly to RAM, thereby allowing the VM's "emulation" of memory to have only a minor overhead over the real thing. The end result is the ability to run a wide variety of existing C code in Flash at acceptable speeds. Petersen demonstrated a version of Quake running in a Flash app, as well as a C-based Nintendo emulator running Zelda; both were eminently playable, and included sound effects and music."

15 of 375 comments (clear)

  1. Browser-based OS by rustalot42684 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now we can finally get this "web operating system" thing I've heard so much about...

    1. Re:Browser-based OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      You need an operating system to run programs? Bah! Real programmers aren't afraid of programming directly to the hardware.

      This whole operating system fad won't last. Who wants to waste so many resources just to simplify development and portability? If we don't stop this operating system fad quickly, the next thing you'll see is people developing virtual machines so that girly programmers won't have to have to test their applications across various platforms. And then they'll start integrating these virtual machines into normal applications! What are they thinking? That memory and processor speeds are growing exponentially?

    2. Re:Browser-based OS by Whatanut · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you run a browser based OS... and install a browser in it. And then use that to run a browser based OS, why... we could have infinite amounts of computing power! Or space time will tear itself apart. Either way, I'm making popcorn.

      --

      yvan eht nioj
    3. Re:Browser-based OS by sjames · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sonny, back in the day we didn't need a machine to test our code. We ran it in our heads as we punched it into the cards. Sure, there were a few new guys who used pencil and paper to help them, but if they didn't shape up in a month or so, we ran them out of the industry.

      Now get off my lawn!

    4. Re:Browser-based OS by sconeu · · Score: 5, Funny

      So it's browsers all the way down?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. Meet the new boss by vivaoporto · · Score: 4, Funny

    Same as the old boss.

  3. And once we have C... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We can write PHP! And then browser security will be top notch.

  4. what? by thermian · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean my preferred language has just become cool?

    Ok, this is either great news or the world is about to end.

    I think I'll go stand in a doorway for an hour or two, just to be on the safe side.

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    1. Re:what? by eviloverlordx · · Score: 5, Funny

      I heard that COBOL is next on the TODO list.

      --
      'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
  5. Re:Right... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 5, Funny

    The circle is now complete. When C left Unix it was but the back-end. Now, it is the API.

  6. Re:Where did they get the Zelda on PC? by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a secret to everyone.

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  7. Re:Sounds fantastic by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Funny

    I feel a great disturbance in the force as if a million admins suddenly screamed in terror . . .

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  8. Re:Sounds fantastic by dedazo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Those who don't remember ActiveX are doomed to reinvent it. Poorly.

    --
    Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
  9. Re:Right... by Achoi77 · · Score: 5, Funny

    only an API of evil, Darth!

  10. Re:Sounds fantastic by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those who don't remember ActiveX are doomed to reinvent it. Poorly.

    A poorly re-invented ActiveX? I feel like I've just stared into the abyss, and seen Bill staring back at me.