Mozilla to revamp its JavaScript implementation

The ActionMonkey project is about to start some important work in the Mozilla code: to merge SpiderMonkey, the current JavaScript implementation code with Tamarin, the JavaScript virtual machine project started late last year with code donated by Adobe.

The team led by Jason Orendorff and that includes Mozilla CTO and JavaScript inventor, Brendan Eich and summer intern Edward Lee, is about to start the first phase: replacing current garbage collector with Tamarin’s. As you may recall from a recent announcement for Firefox 3, a garbage collector recovers memory that could be leaked by a misbehaving module, which in summary translates into a more efficient use of system resources and a better experience for web developers and users alike.

It’s worth noting that in Firefox’s case, JavaScript is relevant not only for its impact on RTA (rich web applications) but it will also have a deep impact in its performance as almost all its behavior is programmed in JavaScript as well. Which is also the case for Flock and Netscape but not SeaMonkey, Camino, K-meleon, and other derivatives.

The new JavaScript engine is scheduled to ship with Firefox 4,  which should happen sometime near the end of 2008 according to my crystal ball.

Via John Resig’s blog.