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Comment by pcwalton | Hacker News Reader

"use asm" is not a keyword. It can be ignored, as V8 does. This is possible because asm.js is JavaScript as defined by ECMA-262. It executes according to the semantics specified in that document.

I don't really want this to turn into a back-and-forth, but it's unfortunate that this has devolved into outright accusations of dishonesty.

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Note that I framed it as "not exactly honest" rather than saying it's an overt lie. Because I don't consider it an overt lie, but it's hard not to read it as a bit equivocal to claim that asm.js as just JavaScript.

And really, I'm far more concerned with the future plans, particularly with regard to things like multi-threading APIs. I don't see how those can be incorporated in a way that supports asm.js as an easy target for existing code while not causing it to diverge from JavaScript as used in the browser.

Yes, threading is definitely the main challenge for asm.js. I'm not as pessimistic as you about it, though. :)

To be clear, I really do think those of you working on asm.js have the best of intentions and really want to make something that works for the Web. However, I expect that supporting existing codebases and commonly used APIs is going to mean compromises. They'll start small and polyfills will work well enough, but I just don't see how asm.js doesn't eventually diverge in significant ways from normal JavaScript, or end up introducing special purpose hacks. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see my position as unrealistic.

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