Yeah, I probably wouldn't have worded it that way. I think the better way to look at it is, it's hard to know how to predict the performance of JavaScript, given the complex, dynamic, heuristic optimizations performed by modern engines. This project is better thought of as an attempt to build a dialect of JS that can be more easily tuned for performance, because its performance model is simpler than that of JS.
If I were going to try to make that claim more precise, I might do some experiments to demonstrate the high variance of object performance in modern JS engines.
I could see the value in certain niche situations...
That's really the idea. This isn't meant to be an alternative to JS, but rather a tool for performance-sensitive kernels. Interoperability will therefore be key, because it has to be easy to write just a small component of a larger app in this dialect while smoothly integrating into the rest of the app.
...but I would really like to see the performance characteristics explored more fully.
Perhaps. I'm skeptical of our ability to accurately measure general claims like "objects are slow" or "X is easier to program in than Y" or "*JS is easier to performance tune than JS." But I do think it's easier to evaluate those claims, at least informally, after you've built something you can experiment with. Hence this experiment!
If I were going to try to make that claim more precise, I might do some experiments to demonstrate the high variance of object performance in modern JS engines.
That's really the idea. This isn't meant to be an alternative to JS, but rather a tool for performance-sensitive kernels. Interoperability will therefore be key, because it has to be easy to write just a small component of a larger app in this dialect while smoothly integrating into the rest of the app. Perhaps. I'm skeptical of our ability to accurately measure general claims like "objects are slow" or "X is easier to program in than Y" or "*JS is easier to performance tune than JS." But I do think it's easier to evaluate those claims, at least informally, after you've built something you can experiment with. Hence this experiment!