Archive for the ‘tracemonkey’ tag
The Summer of 2008 Javascript Space Race
It has thus far been an amazing summer when it comes to browser performance.
We have seen 3 major advances in browser performance when it comes to Javascript specifically.
1. Firefox Tracemonkey
2. Google Chrome V8
3. Webkit SquirrelFish Extreme
Each one has been an exciting advancement in browser performance, leaping ahead quickly. I have been a long time Safari / Webkit nightly user on the Mac. I must admit that the release of tracemonkey moved me over to Firefox 3.1 for a few weeks. I longed for Google Chrome and V8 on my Macbook. But, I am happily back to Safari 4 / Webkit now that SquirrelFish Extreme has landed in the webkit nightly builds. It is blazingly fast, and Safari 4 is an excellent browser.
I am looking forward to further competition and code sharing in the open source space. Notice I didn’t say a thing about Internet Explorer 8. It is still lagging.
Firefox 3.1 + Tracemonkey = VERY FAST
If you haven’t yet downloaded a nightly version of Firefox 3.1 go and do it. Enable the Tracemonkey support by going to about:config and searching for “jit”. Set both of the jit options to “true” and away you go. The speed difference is incredible. It made the Safari 4 developer’s preview look like it was standing still.
