Chrome Browser Beta Now Supports C, C++ Apps

The latest beta of Google's Chrome browser adds support for apps written in C and C++.

Thursday Google Chrome software engineer Chris Rogers said that the latest beta channel release (14.0.835.35) brings big improvements to the popular browser.

For starters, Chrome Beta received what the company calls Native Client (NaCI). Originally announced last year, Native Client allows C and C++ code to be seamlessly executed inside the browser with security restrictions similar to JavaScript. "Native Client apps use Pepper, a set of interfaces that provide C and C++ bindings to the capabilities of HTML5," he said. "As a result, developers can now leverage their native code libraries and expertise to deliver portable, high performance web apps."

Also new to Chrome Beta is the Web Audio API, a new JavaScript API that offers advanced audio capabilities and effects like room simulation and spatialization. Rogers added that this new API will allow web developers to create even more interactive experiences and games, and even provided a few examples for experimentation.

This latest Chrome Beta build also reportedly embraces optimizations for OS X Lion like proper Lion scrollbars and support for fullscreen mode. Mac users also finally received Print Preview, a feature which originally appeared for Windows and Linux clients back in version 13. Previously Google implemented a new Javascript rendering engine into Chrome 14's developmental cycle while also increasing security on secure (HTTPS) web pages.

Thursday Google also made changes on the Chrome 15 Dev front as well with the release of v15.0.849.0. Just on the visuals alone, the initial presentation has changed once a New Tab is opened, moving each section (Most Visited, Apps, Bookmarks etc) to their own sliding "window" without creating a new tab. App icons and website preview icons are now much larger, presenting the feeling of a mobile OS overall rather than a mere web browser. If anything, the new "interface" begs for touch-based input.

The new release also overhauls the Print Preview panel for improved speed and usability, and also features additional enhancements when using the browser on OS X Lion. But mainly this release is focused on stability and performance.

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6

wifiwolf , August 13, 2011 10:04 AM

The first thing that came to my mind was that Google is getting really serious about making Chrome an OS in the browser.
5

cheepstuff , August 13, 2011 10:28 AM

Considering that this is Chrome, Google is probably looking for a logical way to introduce optimizations into their browser by allowing developers to write in an unmanaged language. This seems like a step backwards in some ways because a managed language more simple syntactically, naturally allows for less bugs (particularly in the dreaded memory realm) and is all around far easier to write than the lower level counterpart. One glaring problem with browser apps, however, is it can never compete with an application in performance. An app created for a browser has an associated overhead because it, by being a script parsed by an application, is necessarily several more steps removed from the processor than a program compiled to native calls in the first place. This feature would erode the performance disadvantage that browser developers occasionally have to struggle with. Naturally, it makes sense that Google would have an interest in introducing a way to have high-performance applications on a browser because, if it works, this would be a feature foundational to Chrome OS, their browser-based operating system.

As far as this taking over conventional browser development, like javascript, there is no chance of that. This would only be a useful tool for a developer trying to get more performance than the traditional script can offer. In any other case, it would not be worth the effort.

The thing I don't understand however, is unless these programs are wrapped in some sort of local API or library suite, aren't they just introducing a huge target for virus exploit?
5

Kamab , August 13, 2011 8:44 AM

@jescott, I really doubt that. Google's goal always has been to have their web apps and software be available on all platforms. They don't make money off of "locking you" into their closed system the way that apple does. They make money through advertising, which means support for Java apps is probably not going away any time soon.

So much so is this true that they spent millions showing smartphone developers how to make a good android smartphone to improve competition in the market (and to encourage development of android phones).

I'm curious what you are basing your assumptions off of.

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Chrome Browser Beta Now Supports C, C++ Apps

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