#7496: Support for JavaScript as an official GHC output language
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Reporter: mcandre | Owner:
Type: feature request | Status: new
Priority: normal | Component: Compiler
Version: 7.6.1 | Keywords: js, javascript, fay, compiler
Os: Unknown/Multiple | Architecture: Other
Failure: None/Unknown | Blockedby:
Blocking: | Related:
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JavaScript is becoming an alternative to JVM, the write once run everwhere
dream. JavaScript runs in Web browsers (ECMAScript), in desktops and
servers (Node.js), in mobile apps (PhoneGap). If GHC added JavaScript as
an official output language, it would greatly increase the platforms on
which Haskell code runs, encouraging more developers to give Haskell a
try.
For example, there are few well-supported solutions for single-language
multi-platform on mobile devices. Ruby, Python, and Java come close, but
the toolchains for these require a lot of effort on the part of the mobile
app developer (try debugging Ruby, Ruboto, JRuby, and Java all for one
application!), and components of the toolchain aren't always free
(RubyMotion). If Haskell supported mobile development in a big way,
developers would consider adopting Haskell as their multi-platform
language of choice. We just need to put more effort into a standard
JavaScript backend to GHC.
The good news is that efforts for HS -> JS compilers, such as [Fay|http
://fay-lang.org/], are already underway. Perhaps the community would be
interested in growing Fay, and eventually backporting it into GHC proper.
It's amazing what you can do when Haskell runs everywhere.
--
Ticket URL: <http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/7496>
GHC <http://www.haskell.org/ghc/>
The Glasgow Haskell Compiler
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