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Firefox Gets Massive JavaScript Performance Boost

Posted by Soulskill on from the firefox-has-a-caffeine-buzz dept.

monkeymonkey writes "Mozilla has integrated tracing optimization into SpiderMonkey, the JavaScript interpreter in Firefox. This improvement has boosted JavaScript performance by a factor of 20 to 40 in certain contexts. Ars Technica interviewed Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich (the original creator of JavaScript) and Mozilla's vice president of engineering, Mike Shaver. They say that tracing optimization will 'take JavaScript performance into the next tier' and 'get people thinking about JavaScript as a more general-purpose language.' The eventual goal is to make JavaScript run as fast as C code. Ars reports: 'Mozilla is leveraging an impressive new optimization technique to bring a big performance boost to the Firefox JavaScript engine. ...They aim to improve execution speed so that it is comparable to that of native code. This will redefine the boundaries of client-side performance and enable the development of a whole new generation of more computationally-intensive web applications.' Mozilla has also published a video that demonstrates the performance difference." An anonymous reader contributes links the blogs of Eich and Shaver, where they have some further benchmarks.

3 of 462 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Greatest Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Microsoft needs to embrace fast, cross-platform Javascript and here's why: because better Javascript use means more responsive, rich-content, user-customizable, next-gen web platforms. To meet the challenges of today's globalized, fast-changing environment, business needs to find ways to improve productivity while making better use of resources. That means more state-of-the-art service provision for Slashdot users eat mare pussy fuck all yall

  2. DIGG! by furry_wookie · · Score: 1, Troll

    WHOOPIE!!!

    Digg.com will almost be usable now...hehe.

    --
    -- Given enough time and money, Microsoft will eventualy invent UNIX.
  3. Re:The Greatest Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Microsoft wants a slow javascript. Why? Well, they'd prefer you use custom Active-X controls, Silverlight, or even Flash (the Windows flash player is faster than ports to other OSs). You have to realize that slashdot readers like to felch sperm out of other dudes asses and that cross platform technologies breaks their monopoly.