The Web Engines Hackfest is Coming Next Week
"We're looking forward to it"
Igalia has been hosting an event that we call the “Web Engines Hackfest” annually since 2009. Over the years it has grown and adapted in many ways in order to include more people and discuss more things. This event currently brings together developers who work on all of the browser engines, standards people, builders of embedded systems and tools that use web technologies, and more.
Last year, due to the pandemic, the hackfest was cancelled. This year, the Web Engines Hackfest will adapt yet again, and we’re excited to be doing it virtually, with shorter sessions across many days running from May 3rd to 11th.
Each day there will be one breakout session lasting a couple of hours, each composed of different talks and time for questions and open discussions (details below).
If you are a member of the Web Platform community and would like to attend, please fill out the registration form. We look forward to chatting with you all virtually this year, and even more to seeing you all again in person in the future!
Session Details
Chromium Embedders - May 3rd, 16:00 UTC (2 hours)
This session is focused on various concerns around embedding Chromium either directly or through an existing framework like CEF. We will talk about their implementations and discuss concerns, pains and future directions that Chromium should take from the embedders’ point of view. If you are interested in Web Engines development or working on embedding Chromium, this session is for you.
Chromium Ozone - May 4th, 13:00 UTC (2 hours)
This session will include a brief presentation of the essential parts of Ozone platform, and discussion about practical needs of certain implementations. If you’re curious to know about what Ozone is, our colleague Maxim has a a nice write up
WebAssembly - May 5th, 16:00 UTC (3 hours)
WebAssembly (WASM) is full of interesting and exciting topics. We will begin with two invited talks:
- “A tour of SpiderMonkey’s WebAssembly.Module compilation pipeline” by Ryan Hunt from Mozilla. He discuss how SpiderMonkey compiles a WebAssembly.Module, with emphasis on the logic outside of generating code for a specific function. Will cover compiler selection, streaming parallel compilation, background tier-up, lazy stubs, code caching and pitfalls.
- “Irreducible Control Flow in WebAssembly” by Conrad Watt from Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. He will present the “multiloop” proposal, which aims to make WebAssembly more amenable to conventional code generators.
We’ll then follow with a two-hour attendee-driven unconference to discuss topics like WebAssembly’s uses, the tools ecosystem, current proposals and status in Web engines, or possible future directions.
JavaScript - May 6th, 16:00 UTC (4 hours)
This session will host a discussion about current JS proposals being worked by TC39 delegates. This list includes, but not limited to:
- Intl features
- Record and Tuples
- Realms
- Decimal
We will also talk about optimizations and implementation status and support on things like embedded devices with 32-bit JSC.
Cross-browser Accessibility Platform Testsuite - May 10th, 16:00 UTC (1.5 hours)
This session will discuss accessibility, tests and tooling. We will focus on ways to test implementations, prevent regressions and discuss interoperable and cross-platform concerns and solutions. Our colleague Alexander recently wrote an interesting piece describing some of this and will be presenting.
WPE WebKit - May 11th, 16:00 UTC (3 hours)
WPE WebKit is the official WebKit port for embedded devices. It is used on a growing number of devices, some of which you might encounter throughout your day without even knowing. Topics related with all things WPE, WebKit and browsers targeting embedded devices. This session will include discussion on the state of all things WPE - from Test Automation and QA, to discussing real world usage and scenarios to what support is like for JavaScript, graphics and so on. We’ll also discuss the goals of the project, priorities and roadmap.
For more information, including our Code of Conduct, please check out the website.