Software
New Firefox JavaScript engine uses WebKit code
Once among the fastest, Firefox's TraceMonkey JavaScript engine has slipped behind the performance offered by Chrome, Opera, and Safari. In hopes of propelling Firefox into the lead, Mozilla is developing a new JavaScript engine called JägerMonkey.
To accomplish the feat, the outfit is borrowing some code from Apple's WebKit project. Mozilla aims to meld the powerful optimization techniques of TraceMonkey with the efficient native code generator of Apple's JSCore engine. An implementation that could regain lost ground for Firefox in the JavaScript speed wars.
"The reason we're [building JägerMonkey] is that TraceMonkey is very fast for code that traces well, but for code that doesn't trace, we're stuck with the interpreter, which is not fast," explained Mozilla developer David Mandelin. "The JägerMonkey method JIT will provide a much better performance baseline, and tracing will continue to speed us up on code where it applies."
The project is just underway and interested developers can download the code from Mozilla's version control repository.
To accomplish the feat, the outfit is borrowing some code from Apple's WebKit project. Mozilla aims to meld the powerful optimization techniques of TraceMonkey with the efficient native code generator of Apple's JSCore engine. An implementation that could regain lost ground for Firefox in the JavaScript speed wars.
"The reason we're [building JägerMonkey] is that TraceMonkey is very fast for code that traces well, but for code that doesn't trace, we're stuck with the interpreter, which is not fast," explained Mozilla developer David Mandelin. "The JägerMonkey method JIT will provide a much better performance baseline, and tracing will continue to speed us up on code where it applies."
The project is just underway and interested developers can download the code from Mozilla's version control repository.
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User Comments (30)
Post a comment| codephoenix on March 9, 2010 2:48 PM | Nothing wrong with a speed improvement for Firefox. Would still use FF even if they dont do this. |
| DryIce on March 9, 2010 3:20 PM | I would too. Firefox is a great browser. |
| drasho on March 9, 2010 3:26 PM | That what good about the competition between the browser... The technology will improve much faster ^_^ |
| alexandrionel on March 9, 2010 3:40 PM | I was using Chrome for quite some time and after I read the article about browser, I noticed speed test also confirmed the same: Chrome is the fastest. I stopped using FF for about a year and I don't think I will change my mind any time soon. Chrome is fastest there is at this moment and so far I have had no security problems. |
| TorturedChaos on March 9, 2010 3:54 PM | To me Java seems slow and clanky no mater what browser it running in or what stand alone software. |
| Richy2k9 on March 9, 2010 4:29 PM | hello ... i seem to get into some problem with latest FF, i have to use 3 browsers at once & it's a pain. my favs remain Chrome & Firefox still, just hope this JagerMonkey do make a difference in the end. cheers! |
| Didou on March 9, 2010 5:51 PM | @TorturedChaos, java script & Java are not the same thing. |
| theoscentral on March 9, 2010 6:06 PM | Whatever helps speed up Firefox, I'm all up for it! Firefox FTW! |
| selphiroth on March 9, 2010 6:29 PM | just a gentle reminder to the techspot, you got one typographical error in the second paragraph, it's TraceMonkey but not "TraceMoney "!!! indeed, firefox needs to trace money  )
|
| Matthew on March 9, 2010 6:50 PM | Yikes, haha. Thanks for pointing that out selphiroth, it's fixed. |
| flukeh on March 9, 2010 7:23 PM | I recently switched over to Chrome from Firefox. The big thing that made me switch was when i was online banking, with any different bank it would take literally 20 seconds to log in or navigate around. On Chrome it takes half a second if that. I don't think i'll be switching back anytime soon. |
| renegeek on March 9, 2010 8:12 PM | if this native code is comeing from apple, then this defently going to help firefox, maybe it will have a better chance of getting back into the game with chrome, (but not saying it will beat it, just have better Numbers) |
| SweetIT on March 9, 2010 8:48 PM | Love anything that can enhance Firefox. I haven't abandoned IE but I prefer Firefox and Chrome. Since I have to be familiar with all the browsers that our end users are running I use many several times a day and it really helped me learn each one. I've found now that I can seamlessly navigate through many and help users troubleshoot over the phone better. It's great, if you all are tech support at any level this may help you too! |
| Guest on March 9, 2010 8:59 PM | Chrome is, indeed, the fastest web browser in the world. But that's all there is to it. Opera is, indeed, the most complete web browser in the world. But that's all there is to it. Safari is, indeed, the most stable* web browser in the world. But that's all there is to it. Internet Explorer is, indeed, the most used web browser in the world. And this, also, is all there is to it. The best, all-around (by all-around I'm referring to performance, security, stability, customization, portability, user-friendliness) web browser in the world is called Mozilla Firefox. Hate it or love it. *By stability I'm referring to web page stability, not the actual browser stability. |
| flukeh on March 10, 2010 12:02 AM | What really made me switch from Firefox to Chrome was the ability to seamlessly integrate your bookmarks on different computers. |
| Guest on March 10, 2010 3:26 AM | " Chrome is, indeed, the fastest web browser in the world. But that's all there is to it. Opera is, indeed, the most complete web browser in the world. But that's all there is to it. Safari is, indeed, the most stable* web browser in the world. But that's all there is to it. Internet Explorer is, indeed, the most used web browser in the world. And this, also, is all there is to it. The best, all-around (by all-around I'm referring to performance, security , stability, customization, portability, user-friendliness) web browser in the world is called Mozilla Firefox. Hate it or love it. *By stability I'm referring to web page stability, not the actual browser stability. " Agreed 100%.... |
| jasonk1229 on March 10, 2010 5:11 AM | Firefox is going strong chrome is going to surpass it eventually however with its OS |
| Serag on March 10, 2010 7:02 AM | @ Guest, I agree completely, Looking forward for the next JS engine, though I don't care much about it and I would still use Firefox... |
| tripplejjj on March 10, 2010 7:53 AM | I am completely happy with Firefox because of the extensions (18). I have a fast computer and internet connection now so Firefox performance is not an issue. |
| megrawab on March 10, 2010 8:52 AM | i never thought firefox would use webkit. but its fine, atleast only on java so there would still be distinctions from other browsers that use webkit as rendering engine... |
| jjbeard926 on March 10, 2010 10:02 AM | Am I the only one that sees this as a threat to the security of both WebKit and Firefox? The more code shared between different products, the more likely that a hack, exploit or virus will affect said code. One of the main reasons I embraced Firefox early on was that few exploits and hacks were written for it as most hackers went after the much larger market share IE. The new diversity of browser options out there between Chrome, Opera, Safari, etc. has actually been one of the best things for security on the net. If these browsers begin to share code and work the same way we risk large scale exploits and hacking issues (ala the issues with Flash). |
| cocodel on March 10, 2010 10:06 AM | Good news from firefox! Use to love firefox but they need to improve in speed evrything else its ok. |
| rskapadia2294 on March 10, 2010 12:02 PM | i have never used firefox! i was a chrome user them moved on to opera 10.50! chrome used to hang very much! opera is the best! it has speed! and atleast it doesn't hangs! :P |
| jobeard on March 10, 2010 1:13 PM | that was java script , not JAVA 
|
| nmayer79 on March 10, 2010 5:14 PM | Either way FireFox is and always will be the king of browsers! |
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