Mozilla beefing up JavaScript performance with new JIT compiler
IonMonkey JavaScript will debut with Firefox 18 in early 2013.
In an effort to keep Firefox competitive with commercial browsers and handle the ever-heavier burden that interactive webpages put on browsers’ scripting engines, Mozilla is working on a new JavaScript just-in-time (JIT) compiler architecture for Firefox’s SpiderMonkey script engine that will significantly boost the browser’s performance. Called IonMonkey, the JIT is now part of the nightly Firefox test builds, and is set for wide release as part of Firefox 18.
On Google’s V8 benchmark, the test version of Firefox 18 scored a 7 percent improvement in performance over Firefox 17; with Mozilla’s own Kraken benchmark, IonMonkey resulted in about a 26 percent performance boost over Firefox 17.
Firefox 18 is expected to enter beta in November. The release version is slotted for arrival early in 2013.