ECMAScript-262 implementation in C?

Question

Possible duplicate: Tiny javascript implementation?

I have searched around for a C implementation of Javascript, but I couldn't find one. I need this for an ultra-portable application that will run on platforms without a C++ compiler.

Here are my requirements:

ANSI C (C89 compatible if possible)
Minimal dependencies
Embeddable (not stand-alone)
Open Source (GPL v2 compatible)

I don't care about speed, but correctness is an issue. I would prefer for it to support ECMAScript-262 v5, but v3 is good enough for now.

Does something like this exist? If not, are there any implementations that would be relatively simple to port?

DMDScript is the simplest that I've found, so I may end up porting that. Apparently there is no reference implementation, so this may be the best way to go.

Note:

I also found tiny-js, which is meant to be small and simple, but it doesn't seem to be standards compliant. It is actively developed it seems...

What about a C++ to C compiler? That one should be findable. — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 18:44
oh my gosh, it sounds like major pain in the ass, but I actually hope you find what you're seeking for. Please update this question if so :) — jAndy, Jan 28 '13 at 18:45
Is "freeware" a requirement? If not, given time and money, I am willing to code you one `:-)` — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 18:46
@JanDvorak Hmm... I guess that could work, but getting this to work cross platform with dependencies will be a royal pain if I have to debug something generated. And yes, free is a requirement (it's for an open source project I'm committing to). — beatgammit, Jan 28 '13 at 18:47
@JanDvorak: The old [cfront](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cfront) C++-to-C translator is unlikely to be suitable (development was abandoned in 1993). [Comeau C/C++](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comeau_C/C%2B%2B) might do the job, but it's not free. Don't expect the C generated by any C++-to-C translator to be legible or maintainable. — Keith Thompson, Jan 28 '13 at 18:51
What CPU? Google's V8 compiles JS into machine code for a few CPUs. — Alexey Frunze, Jan 28 '13 at 18:51
@AlexeyFrunze "ultraportable" as in "whatever C compiles to" — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 18:52
@AlexeyFrunze x86, but it needs to be an interpreter because the ecmascript will be dynamic (user supplied). Platform in this case means Amiga/RISC OS/etc... — beatgammit, Jan 28 '13 at 18:53
@tjameson Not having the code until runtime is expected by a javascript compiler. Knowing the target instruction set architecture does help performance. — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 18:55
@JanDvorak I understand that, but V8 is written in C++, which doesn't meet my requirements. I assumed that pre-compiling the JS before-hand was implied. — beatgammit, Jan 28 '13 at 18:58
I still agree the fact V8 is coded in C++ kinda rules it out. — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 18:59
@JanDvorak Do you by chance know where I can get a copy of Comeau's compiler? The [website](http://www.comeaucomputing.com/) appears to be down... — beatgammit, Jan 28 '13 at 19:00
@tjameson Never encountered it. You'll have to google a bit. — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 19:01
@JanDvorak If you can find an old version where that's the case, put it as an answer. I'd certainly upvote that =) — beatgammit, Jan 28 '13 at 19:09
Strange, it seems that SM 1.8 is, in fact, C. Are you willing to verify? http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/js/js-1.8.0-rc1.tar.gz — John Dvorak, Jan 28 '13 at 19:20
@JanDvorak Throw that in as an answer. It looks like C! The readme even mentions that it is C. — beatgammit, Jan 28 '13 at 19:24
actually in C world Lua is the king of embeddable dynamic languages. — shabunc, Jan 28 '13 at 19:30

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 11 '13 at 08:57

3

Spidermonkey 1.8.0 RC1 and the previous releases are in C. You can use that.

They introduced C++ in their latest release as of 11 Feb 2013 in 1.8.5 release

answered Feb 11 '13 at 08:57

rahulg

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Thanks for the more specific info. Awesome! – beatgammit Feb 11 '13 at 21:06

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 28 '13 at 19:35

The SpiderMonkey wiki claims it is C/C++, however, from looking at the source package, it seems to be pure C actually.

The official download link is http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/js/js-1.8.0-rc1.tar.gz

If that doesn't turn out to be pure C, try the older versions. Their FTP (http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/js/) currently hosts spidermonkey 1.8.5 down to 1.4, and Rhino 1.7 down to 1.4.

The documentation for Spidermonkey API seems good as well.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 19 '13 at 06:49

1

have you tried http://www.duktape.org/? I've been looking around for the same for a while, and this one just got me a wink. I'll test it and see how it goes, but to start, looks promising

answered Oct 19 '13 at 06:49

Alfredo Meraz

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ECMAScript-262 implementation in C?

3 Answers3