Subj : newbie questions about porting JS to embedded processor
To   : netscape.public.mozilla.jseng
From : frudman@ix.netcom.com
Date : Mon Dec 08 2003 06:09 pm

Hi Folks. Although the doc in JSRef points here, I'm not sure if this is 
the correct newsgroup for the questions below so if I'm wrong please let 
me know (and my apologies in advance).

I'm considering porting the c-version of JS (spidermonkey) to an 
embedded platform with limited memory (16meg ram, 8meg flash/rom) (cpu 
yet to be determined but probably the analog device blackfin 5xx) to 
allow for  simple client-level app scripting in a field deployable device.

If anyone can answer any of the questions below, it would be very much 
appreciated:

1) If this is not the correct group for this and other related 
questions, pls advise as to which would be more appropriate (and ignore 
the following questions :)

2) given the memory constaints, is this a reasonable project or does the 
js compiler/vm require too much memory or cpu power? Any ideas of the 
approximate (normal/minimum) ram/rom footprint required for the compiled 
runtime (not including actual scripts to be executed) in say the x86 
architecture (for comparison sake)?

2a) the source code seemed to be fairly independent of the underlying 
cpu architecture (except for the req of an 8-bit byte) and also 
self-contained even to the degree of implementing its own malloc/str 
fcns. Is this correct or am I reading the code wrong?

3) has anyone else (other ng or web site?) attempted to port 
spidermonkey to an embedded platform? Succefully? What kind of 
performance did you get?

4) I realize that the current versions of JS have been moved over to 
Java and the spidermonkey/c version is no longer the 
latest-and-greatest. But is it usable for my purposes and is it being 
maintained (at least as far as bug reporting is concerned)

5) Does anyone recommend a better js source to start for an embedded 
port (rather than spider monkey) either because lighter or faster or 
requiring fewer cpu/mem resources

Any other info to help me decide whether to go ahead with this or not 
would be helpful and welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Frederic Rudman.

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