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A comment on Show HN: Run Python, Ruby, Node.js, C++, Lua in the Browser via x86 to WASM JIT.

Re:Show HN: Run Python, Ruby, Node.js, C++, Lua in the Brows... by dec0dedab0de on Monday November 22, 2021 @10:45AM (#29307613)
If anyone else was confused and was too embarrassed to say it out loud, I was stubbornly typing exit() to try the other languages before I actually read the menu. You have to click on the different REPL names to switch between them. And this link automatically starts you in python3.

This is really great though. Are you planning on adding any other languages? or alternative REPLs? For Python, the option to run bpython or ipython would be fantastic. As far as other languages, I could see this as being a savior when I have to fix something written in PERL or PHP once every 3-5 years, and I need to relearn the syntax. Being able to choose arbitrary older versions of languages would be good for that use case too.

I was going to ask more questions, but then I looked around the site a bit. Is it fair to say this is essentially a demo for the CheerpX emulator? Which started as a proprietary way to run legacy flash applications on modern browsers? If so, then my next question is if there is any chance of some or part of this becoming open source?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Show HN: Run Python, Ruby, Node.js, C++, Lua in the Brows... by apignotti on Monday November 22, 2021 @10:54AM (#29307736)
CheerpX is really not just limited to REPLs, this demo was intended to showcase the technology and to measure the public interest for this specific use case. We don't plan to make this a product in itself, but we are happy to partner with a third party interested in doing so.

The next demo we are planning is actually more ambitious, we will drop users into a bash shell and give them control of the machine. The experience will be something like having your own zero-cost cloud machine always available and with total data privacy.

At this time we don't plan to make CheerpX open source, although this might change in the future. We are still working to figure out exactly what use cases we should bring to market first, so we prefer to keep our options open.

[ Parent | on HN ]