Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog

One of the key features of the web is that it’s pretty safe to click on almost any link. Your browser can fetch code from some unknown server on the internet and run it.

In the browser you can use any language you want – as long as it’s JavaScript. JavaScript is an interpreted, dynamically-typed language, and it was specifically designed to protect netizens from malicious and buggy code. Nowadays you can also program with other languages and convert the result to JavaScript with suitable tools (Java, C/C++, etc..). With browser extensions some more languages are possible (Java, Flash actionscript etc..).

Native Client – a Google open source project more than three years in the making – is specifically designed to run native code securely inside web browsers. It tried to put web applications on “the same playing field” as local applications, providing the raw speed needed to compete with traditional software on 3D games, video editing, and more. Google Native Client: The web of the future – or the past? article gives some more details on this technology. Google’s idea is to create a system that tries to give languages like C and C++ – but eventually others as well – the same excellent level of portability and safety that JavaScript provides on the web today.

As it stands today, Native Client is a software “sandbox” meant to securely run native code inside a browser. Native Client can give you a tremendous improvement in performance compared to other options for running code in the browser. The rub is that Native Client isn’t the web – at least not yet. It will soon be an integral part of Google’s browser and its browser-based operating system.

Chrome will only accept Native Client applications distributed through the Chrome Web Store, and Google will only allow Native Client apps into the store if they’re available for both 32-bit x86 and 64-bit x86 (the ARM version of Native Client is not yet ready for prime time).

The problem for wide adoption is that Native Client hasn’t been integrated with other browsers. It hasn’t been standardized. Is this development direction good or bad for the web I am not sure.

I liked the Firefox option to save tabs on exit. Every time I exited Firefox 3.x, I simply click on the Save and Quit button when I am prompted “Do you want Firefox to save your tabs for the next time it starts?”. The next time I launch Firefox, all tabs are automatically opened. When Firefox updated to version 4 (and newer versions as well) this feature seems to have gone. Fortunately this feature has not disappeared anywhere, it is just by default turned off.

Enable Save Tabs on Exit for Firefox:

1. Type about:config at the address bar and hit enter.

2. Click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button

3. At the filter bar, type browser.showQuitWarning and hit enter.

4. You can either double click on it to change the value from false to true, or right click on it and select Toggle.

The Flame Party Helsinki promises to be a day of HOT Open Web (aka HTML5) demo hacking, outdoor BBQ etc… 18th of June 2011. This event if for HTML5 and Open Web geeks, DemoSceners and Internet artists. The Flame Party is organized by the Alternative Party Crew, Mozilla Labs and DOT (the Digital Media Club of Aalto University). Being one of the founders of DOT and knowing many people from Alternative Party Crew I can expect quite much on this event.

As en example what to expect Firefox 4 3D WebGL Demo – No-Comply from Mozilla Labs DemoParty 2011. Web browser can nowadays do quite amazing tricks!