Over the past few months, Microsoft has been on a steady path to broadening the reach of its technologies, even if it means going the “open source” route. In a recent announcement, it’s furthering that idea by making a key component of its latest browser — the part responsible for executing JavaScript — open to external code development.
JavaScript was originally created as a programming language for web browsers, but its versatility has recently allowed it to be used in a variety of areas, including mobile phones, wearables, and even cars. This is largely due to a platform called Node.js, which allows JavaScript to run on everything from mobile devices to servers running web-based applications. Node.js now relies on Google's V8 JavaScript to function — the same engine used in the Chrome web browser. The part of Microsoft Edge that is being made open source is called ChakraCore, and it is an alternative to Google's V8 JavaScript engine.
So why would developers want to switch to ChakraCore over the proven V8 engine? According to Microsoft, ChakraCore has better support for the latest version of JavaScript, offering additional features and functionality. With an alternative platform now available for Web developers to base their Web development code on, it will be interesting to see how quickly this new platform is adopted and the new JavaScript features that will find their way into next-generation applications.
ChakraCore is already used outside of the Chrome browser, but primarily on Microsoft devices. This includes the Xbox gaming console and Windows Phone, as well as, on the server side, to power services such as the digital assistant Cortana.
