August 22 2008

Javascript engine showdown

Both Mozilla and Webkit have recently announced drastic performance improvements to their Javascript engines. Both Webkit’s SquirrelFish and Mozilla’s SpiderMonkey are sure to shake up the Javascript world for the better. This is all the more exciting given the new activity in the ECMA standardization process that might bring new life to the language.

As important as those things are, there’s a bigger question here. Which project’s multi-animal portmanteau of a name looks cooler when rendered artistically? The SpiderMonkey has a definite cute factor, and seems much more likely to leap into action, just in time. The SquirrelFish, however is more original, and has a modest demeanour that shows his dedication to executing Javascript rapidly.

Which creature would you trust with your code?

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4 Comments

  1. Steven Fisher
    Aug 22 2008
    7:43 pm

    Based strictly on the logo, I’d call SpiderMonkey a horrible, unoriginal rip-off of something interesting. A lot like the Linux desktop!

  2. EY
    Aug 22 2008
    9:31 pm

    Surprisingly they’re both names of real animals, but the Squirrelfish logo is way cooler. The SpiderMonkey logo looks like something you’d see on a cheap Chinese knockoff of a shirt.

  3. Allen Pike
    Aug 23 2008
    9:55 am

    I agree. If you look at the real animals, the Spider Monkey looks cooler. But for the logos, the Squirrel Fish just brings joy to my heart.

  4. Pingback Antipode - Article - Ten Tidbits from IE8
    Oct 11 2008
    2:24 am

    [...] Working on some performance gains, albeit nothing compared to The Other Guys [...]

What do you think?