Webkit's SquirrelFish JavaScript Engine

Webkit is one of the world’s most powerful frameworks today as it has been used for developing Safari and Safari mobile. Its significance in building these browsers is noted since it minimizes the required bandwidth and processing power to load up the browser and its mobile counterpart. What is even significant is Webkit’s ability to ease the implementation of JavaScript. This hastens the loading time of an Ajax based website when they are loaded using this browser. The key to this speed is Webkit’s JavaScript engine called SunSpider.

Webkit is continuously trying to look for ways to improve its framework and in return, the browser. SunSpider’s ability to read JavaScript fast is based on reading the syntax tree, separating each node and figuring out what process should be used.

Even though SunSpider is fast in itself, it is slower when you compare its speed when you compare them to SquirrelFish. The latest version of Webkit with SquirrelFish is known to process JavaScript more than 30% that it’s previous version. The difference in seconds is very important to these frameworks as it could spell the success of their framework. Its efficiency on browsers is undeniable.

The key to SquirrelFish’s success is the capacity of the engine to interpret the coding of JavaScript faster than SunSpider. Instead of reading the syntax tree and separate its components to determine its function, SquirrelFish removes all of these processes by identifying the process even without the syntax tree. That means, the process is shorten to greater extent compared to SunSpider.

The update of Webkit has two great implications:

First the update on Safari was not just made on the computer browsers but also in mobile browsers as well. Developers now can build stronger web based applications for mobile devices. Apple, the company behind Safari will be receiving the biggest advantage of this update since their iPhones will be even more powerful now that JavaScript can easily be read on their mobile phones. Although this fact cannot be easily realized by regular users, it is a big boost for the developers if they want to push the boundaries of an Ajax based website.

The second implication of this update is from the fact that even though Webkit is primarily used to develop Safari, it is still an open source framework. That means developers everywhere can use the power of this framework to build an Ajax based website. They can easily build an Ajax based application using this framework and expect faster processing even if they do not use JavaScript since Webkit will take care of its processing.

The best part about SquirrelFish is that it is a brand new tool. Most of the developers behind Webkit and SquirrelFish believe that an update is coming. It could be in a few months or a year but the fact that the current version is already powerful makes us only think as to what will be the next version has to offer. But for now, Ajax based websites will be loading really fast in Safari and Safari mobile browsers.

The best part about SquirrelFish is that it is a brand new tool. Most of the developers behind Webkit and SquirrelFish believe that an update is coming. It could be in a few months or a year but the fact that the current version is already powerful makes us only think as to what will be the next version has to offer. But for now, Ajax based websites will be loading really fast in Safari and Safari mobile browsers.