[webkit-dev] Qtish API for JavaScriptCore

[Brent Fulgham]

Hi,

On Aug 26, 2009, at 1:12 PM, Simon Hausmann wrote:

> We, the team of Qt developers at Nokia and INdT, would like to add a  
> C++ Qt
> API to JavaScriptCore as well, to allow application developers to  
> for example
> embed the JavaScriptCore engine into their applications.
>
> We want to give developers the ability to introspect the  
> environment, inject
> custom classes and call functions using a C++ API that uses Qt types  
> and has a
> Qt-ish feel to it. Current releases of Qt come with such an API as  
> part of the
> QtScript module, which however is based on an in-house developed  
> interpreter.

I think this sounds like a wonderful project, but it seems to be so  
heavily tied to the various Qt infrastructure.  Consequently, I wonder  
if the general utility of this work will warrant being housed in the  
WebKit repository.

A few similar projects exist externally (or are seeking approval to be  
added) such as the explosive GObject-based interface, the ever- 
shifting COM-ish interface, and  an external project seeking to create  
a simple API to use with WebKit.

I wish there were sufficient dynamic features in C++ to make it  
possible to write code as simple and elegant as those in the Qt  
example you linked.  However, until I port my application to Qt I'm  
afraid the various additional dependencies make it somewhat unlikely  
that I would ever make use of it.

I do wish there was a C++ library that would make it easier to write  
JS<->C++ code.  Having to write the various C 'thunks' to move  
parameters in and out of JavaScript is boring and maintenance-intensive.

This is (of course) not a problem limited to JavaScriptCore; every  
extension language I can think of has similar issues.

-Brent