D could catch this wave: web assembly

[Wyatt via Digitalmars-d]

On Thursday, 18 June 2015 at 19:23:26 UTC, Joakim wrote:
> On Thursday, 18 June 2015 at 18:30:24 UTC, Abdulhaq wrote:
>>
>> Of course this is exactly true and it drives me mad too, but 
>> you can't just jettison it in favour of a better architecture.
>
> Why not?  This is exactly what _should_ be done.
>
Same reason you can't just stick your head in the sand and 
pretend the entire existing body of C and C++ code doesn't exist. 
  It sucks, but them's the breaks.

> I think the reason these efforts have failed so far is because 
> NaCl was still stuck using the existing web stack for the GUI,

NaCl failed because it required a plugin, and did so in a way 
that made it exclusive to one browser vendor.  It's like Java 
only worse.  Or that thrice-be-damned Flash.

> But if you're just going to avoid the old web stack altogether 
> and try to deploy your canvas/WebGL/assembly native app 
> everywhere using the web browser as a trojan horse, presumably 
> just to get through security or evade sysadmins more easily, 
> you have to question what the point of making it a "web app" 
> even is.
>
The point is it runs in a browser.  Do you need a more compelling 
feature than the ability to run unchanged anywhere there's a 
browser (basically everywhere)?  I mean, I too think most of this 
"web technology" is trash and really wish the lingua fraca of the 
Internet wasn't awful--  I would love for text to be foremost and 
for progressive enhancement to fall back to a normal web site 
when I visit with elinks.

But realistically? This is a damn sight better than any of the 
other attempts so far because it's just a new feature in the JS 
VM.  If it means we can lower code in a proper language to 
something a browser can run at something resembling the speed of 
an ordinary scripting language, it'll be a win already.

> And this new stuff isn't integrated, I believe canvas doesn't 
> even support hyperlinks.  How is that not broken already?
>
Look, I don't fundamentally disagree that this all sucks but 
dude, chill.  Here, go play some Oregon Trail: 
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990 ;)

> http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/paths.html
>
SVG has animation, input handling, and an audio API(!) and you 
take issue with paths?  Weeeeeak. :P

-Wyatt