Re: Adoption of the Typed Array Specification

On May 13, 2010, at 4:57 PM, Erik Arvidsson wrote:

> I'm surprised no one has said this yet but here goes:
> 
> ArrayBuffer needs to extend Array. In other words instances of
> ArrayBuffer needs to also be instances of Array
> 
> var ab = new ArrayBuffer;
> assert(ab instanceof ArrayBuffer);
> assert(ab instanceof Array);
> 
> You will also need to make sure that all the internal methods are
> defined. See 8.12 Algorithms for Object Internal Methods of ES5. For
> example what does it mean to do [[Delete]] on a byte array?

Similarly, I know that there's some concern about mutability, fixed-length, etc. for a byte-handling array type. The current TypedArray spec only deals with fixed arrays which is somewhat at odds with the Array type ancestry. Finding a way to have a mutable version of TypedArray to better fill the normal Array contract seems a natural extension of the current proposal.

> On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 05:57, Arun Ranganathan <arun@mozilla.com> wrote:
>> Greetings, TC-39 WG and script mavens!
>> 
>> Browser vendors participating in the WebGL WG intend to implement the "Typed
>> Arrays" specification, allowing for greater manipulation of binary data:
>> 
>> https://cvs.khronos.org/svn/repos/registry/trunk/public/webgl/doc/spec/TypedArray-spec.html
>> 
>> The draft specification (a work in progress) resides at Khronos, which is
>> typically an unusual home for something integral to the rest of the web
>> platform.  Khronos is where we work on WebGL, which enjoys Google, Opera,
>> Mozilla, and Apple participation, amongst other organizations.
>> 
>> The general usefulness of constructs such as ArrayBuffers (covered in the
>> "Typed Arrays" draft specification) lends itself to other web platform
>> specifications, such as the File API, parts of which are implemented in
>> Firefox 3.6.3:
>> 
>> http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/FileAPI/
>> 
>> In the above draft (also a work in progress), the Blob interface exposes an
>> ArrayBuffer property, which can then be used with different views.
>> 
>> While implementations are currently proceeding unimpeded by standards-track
>> considerations, it would be useful if Typed Arrays were taken on as a work
>> item by TC-39, for more general inclusion in JavaScript.  Should it live
>> elsewhere, and if so, where?
>> 
>> -- A*
>> _______________________________________________
>> es-discuss mailing list
>> es-discuss@mozilla.org
>> https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/es-discuss
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> erik

--
Alex Russell
slightlyoff@google.com
alex@dojotoolkit.org BE03 E88D EABB 2116 CC49 8259 CF78 E242 59C3 9723

Received on Friday, 14 May 2010 05:19:01 UTC