V8 (JavaScript engine)

V8 JavaScript Engine
Developer(s) Google
Stable release 4.1.0[1] / March 3, 2015
Development status Active
Written in C++,[2] JavaScript[2]
Operating system Cross-platform
Platform IA-32, x86-64, ARM, MIPS[3]
Type JavaScript engine
License BSD
Website code.google.com/p/v8

The V8 JavaScript Engine is an open source JavaScript engine developed by Google for the Google Chrome web browser.[4] It has since seen use in many other projects. As of 2012, the head programmer is Lars Bak.[5] The first version of the V8 engine was released at the same time as the first version of Chrome, September 2, 2008.

V8 compiles JavaScript to native machine code (IA-32, x86-64, ARM, or MIPS ISAs)[3][6] before executing it, instead of more traditional techniques such as interpreting bytecode or compiling the whole program to machine code and executing it from a filesystem. The compiled code is additionally optimized (and re-optimized) dynamically at runtime, based on heuristics of the code's execution profile. Optimization techniques used include inlining, elision of expensive runtime properties, and inline caching, among many others.

Details

The garbage collector of V8 is a generational incremental collector.[7] The V8 assembler is based on the Strongtalk assembler.[8] On 7 December 2010, a new compiling infrastructure named Crankshaft was released, with speed improvements.[9]

Usage

V8 is intended to be used both in a browser (notably in Chrome and Chromium browsers) and as a standalone high-performance engine that can be integrated into independent projects, for example server-side JavaScript in Node.js,[10] or client side JavaScript in .NET/Mono using V8.NET.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "V8 JavaScript Engine: Changelog". Google Code. Google. 5 Mar 2015. Retrieved 3 Mar 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "V8 JavaScript Engine". Google Code.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Introduction - Chrome V8". Google Developers.
  4. ↑ Lenssen, Philipp (1 September 2008). "Google on Google Chrome - comic book". Google Blogoscoped. Google. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  5. ↑ Minto, Rob (27 March 2009). "The genius behind Google’s web browser". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "V8 Changelog v3.8.2". Google. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "A game changer for interactive performance". Chromium Blog. Google. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "V8 JavaScript Engine: License". Google Code. Google. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "A New Crankshaft for V8". Chromium Blog. Google. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Jolie O'Dell (March 10, 2011). "Why Everyone Is Talking About Node". Mashable.

External links