The Chakra JavaScript engine is optimized to run the web faster. (Image source: Microsoft.)
Microsoft has announced that it’ll be open-sourcing the core components of Chakra - the JavaScript engine in the Microsoft Edge browser we see in Windows 10 - on GitHub under the MIT license next month.
The Chakra JavaScript engine was created in 2008 from the ground up with the modern web in mind. According to Microsoft, currently, the company’s Chakra-powered Edge browser leads other browsers in some key JavaScript benchmarks owned by these other browser vendors (e.g., Google’s Octana and Apple’s Jet Stream). Outside of Edge and other Windows 10 universal apps, Chakra is also found in Microsoft services, such as Azure DocumentDB, Cortana, and Outlook.com. Seeing Chakra's potential for the web, cloud services, and the Internet of Things, the 'cloud-first, mobile-first' company has thus decided to open-source ChakraCore.
So what’s in ChakraCore? According to Microsoft:
ChakraCore is a fully fledged, self-contained JavaScript virtual machine that can be embedded in derivative products and power applications that need scriptability such as NoSQL databases, productivity software, and game engines. ChakraCore can be used to extend the reach of JavaScript on the server with platforms such as Node.js and cloud-based services. It includes everything that is needed to parse, interpret, compile and execute JavaScript code without any dependencies on Microsoft Edge internals.
While ChakraCore will be Windows-only during its initial January release, Microsoft says it intends to bring it to other platforms in the future.
Source: Microsoft.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.