VM's getting scared?

Over on java.net, they're commenting on whether Google has chosen poorly buy backing the RIA via JavaScript/CSS/DOM/HTML rather than the VM model using Java/Flash/Silverlight.

I look at it from an opposite point of view. Originally I was going to post this as a comment on their site, but for some reason they wouldn't let me.

But I have my OWN voice! Squeak in the wind it may be, I shall NOT BE SILENCED by whimsical corporate overlords. Or, something like that -- geez...not changing the world here.

Anyway.

You can argue that Google and Apple soldiering on with the web platform can be likened to those early pioneers that did the same with the Java Platform, back when it WAS slow, had platform issues, and other teething problems.

If it weren't for the likes of GMail and other RIA browser apps, the browser makers would have less incentive to push the browser as a platform. Yet, now we see that, while not perfect, the browser as RIA runtime is viable for a large class of applications, and it's just getting better.

Witness the improvements to the runtimes both via Adobes new JavaScript runtime, as well as Apples. Plus the new version of JS as a language. Also, we have the DOM changes with things like the better CANVAS tags to handle graphics, as well as improved SVG support.

All of these changes are to drive the platform farther to become more flexible and more performant in order to handle more advanced applications.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. If you want something more robust and fluid than what a browser RIA can provide today, then by all means go the VM route. But there are a lot of valid reasons to stay out of the VM.

VMs add more overhead to an already big system. You still need the browser to launch the application, and when you load that browser, you pretty much get the entire runtime as well. Heck, you can barely launch Flash today properly without JavaScript. So now you pay for both runtimes.

Of course, there's Apples iPhone, which supports neither Java or Flash, but it DOES have a full boat Safari implementation. So, GMail yay, Flex/FX/Silverlight nay.

Finally, you simply have the fragmentation effect. With Flash, Java and Silverlight cutting up the developer pie, while JS/HTML remains a cohesive and reasonably standard cross platform solution.

The number of applications that the browser runtime can support is expanding with every release of the various browsers. The momentum is for browser providers to provide a robust application environment while at the same time improving their unique UI elements for those standard browser tasks. You can not have a successful browser today that doesn't handle the large JS RIA applications.

The browser. It's not just for surfing any more.