A leaked internal e-mail sent by Google research scientist Mark S. Miller on Nov. 16, 2010, lays out a comprehensive two-pronged strategy for the future of JavaScript. Declaring that JavaScript has fundamental flaws that cannot be fixed, Miller explained that Google will continue trying to evolve the language, while also developing a new language called Google Dash to ultimately supplant it.
Dash is commonly known now as Dart, an open-source programming language developed by Google. The structured Web-programming platform is a class-based, object-oriented language with C-style syntax. The e-mail stated, “The goal of the Dash effort is ultimately to replace JavaScript as the lingua franca of Web development on the open Web platform,” but it has not yet been adopted by mainstream browsers.
An executive summary of the e-mail is reproduced below. The full version is available here.
Javascript has fundamental flaws that cannot be fixed merely by evolving the language. We’ll adopt a two-pronged strategy for the future of Javascript:
– Harmony (low risk/low reward): continue working in conjunction with TC39 (the EcmaScript standards body) to evolve Javascript
– Dash (high risk/high reward): Develop a new language (called Dash) that aims to maintain the dynamic nature of Javascript but have a better performance profile and be amenable to tooling for large projects. Push for Dash to become an open standard and be adopted by other browsers. Developers using Dash tooling will be able to use a cross-compiler to target Javascript for browsers that do not support Dash natively.
That’s the 10,000 foot overview. For more detail (including an FAQ), read on…
