The recently released Dart 1.1 comes with better performance for the dart2js compiler and improves support for the server-side development. The language itself is pretty much on hold.
After the Dart 1.0 milestone released in November last year, Google has made available Dart 1.1 which improves the performance of the language even more. The JavaScript code generated by the dart2js compiler is now 25% faster than two months ago in the Richards benchmark, being less than 10% behind Google’s renown V8 VM.
In the FluidMotion benchmark, dart2js’ performance has more than doubled since November, being on par with V8. dart2js’s performance hasn’t changed that much in the Tracer benchmark, but it is way ahead V8’s by more than a third. It’s all flat in the DeltaBlue benchmark. In all benchmarks, the native Dart VM is ahead of both dart2js and V8. (All historical benchmark results are available on Dart’s performance web page.)
Seth Ladd, a Google Developer Advocate for Dart, noted some progress in Dart 1.1 regarding the server:
Support for large files, file copying, process signal handlers, and terminal information. New in this release is support for UDP, which, for example, allows developers to write more efficient media streaming apps.
The Dart editor’s performance has been improved but there are also advances in the area of debugging, code completion and tooltips.
Although an updated version of the language specification has been published, at the moment the language is on hold waiting for Ecma International to form a committee to work on it, according to Bob Nystrom. A committee that is to
standardize the syntax and semantics of a modern, object oriented programming language called Dart as well as standardizing core libraries and complementary technologies that support the language. This work should not use patents or if so then only royalty free patents. To aid in achieving that objective, this TC will use an experimental TC52 RF patent policy similar that has been developed for use by TC39.
The Ecma TC52 committee was first announced in December after Google has stabilized Dart, both the language and its implementation.
