Re:V8 release v6.6
by dspillett on Tuesday March 27, 2018 @09:43AM
(#16688240)
> performance-critical code will use that instead
Yes, but how much of the browser code out there is is truly performance critical.
For a lot of code out there it is important that it perform well enough but it won't see much benefit from WebAssembly because of bottlenecks elsewhere (the DOM, the user, the network). Keeping the maintainability benefits JS currently has over WA is a bonus worth paying a small performance price, but you still want that price to be as small as practically possible.
As WA and the toolchanins for which it is the final compile target mature, this may change. But I suspect JS has a place, a place where performance considerations are often not insignificant, for some time to come, with WA for extra performance in truly critical areas (i.e. proper number crunching).
Yes, but how much of the browser code out there is is truly performance critical.
For a lot of code out there it is important that it perform well enough but it won't see much benefit from WebAssembly because of bottlenecks elsewhere (the DOM, the user, the network). Keeping the maintainability benefits JS currently has over WA is a bonus worth paying a small performance price, but you still want that price to be as small as practically possible.
As WA and the toolchanins for which it is the final compile target mature, this may change. But I suspect JS has a place, a place where performance considerations are often not insignificant, for some time to come, with WA for extra performance in truly critical areas (i.e. proper number crunching).