Running code fast in web browsers: PNaCl versus asm.js
The main point of the blog post “ Thoughts on asm.js vs PNaCl ” (by Gregg Tavares) is: It just seems like asm.js and PNaCl are closer than people are admitting. Some of the other points he is making are more controversial, so be sure to read the comments to get the complete picture. Comparing the two solutions PNaCl [1] and asm.js [2] are Google’s and Mozilla’s solutions for running code with (near-)native speed in web browsers. asm.js is a minimal solution. It being based on JavaScript give it three advantages: asm.js code already runs in all current JavaScript engines, albeit much slower than in an asm.js-optimized engine. Easy to standardize: asm.js semantics is derived from JavaScript and thus very easy to define, because it can be based on the ECMAScript specification. Easy to port: an asm.js implementation is based on a JavaScript engine, meaning comparatively little work is required to create one. As an aside, standardization is a requirement for portab...