--- title: "V8 7.8, Node 12.11, and a Douglas Crockford book review" publication: "JavaScript Weekly" issue: 456 published_at: "2019-09-27" canonical_url: "https://javascriptweekly.com/issues/456" --- This week's JavaScript news #456 — September 27, 2019 [Read on the Web](https://javascriptweekly.com/issues/456) JavaScript Weekly [![\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/w_1280,e_sharpen:60/v1569600811/cqy4psp74yvo6gn3ycxa.png)](https://phoboslab.org/log/2019/09/voidcall-making-of) [The Making of a 13 Kilobyte JS Real-Time Strategy Game](https://phoboslab.org/log/2019/09/voidcall-making-of) — Last week we linked to [the 200+ entries](https://js13kgames.com/entries/2019) in the recent JS13KGames contest, but if you’ve wondered how developers actually build such games, here’s a look behind the scenes. PhobosLab [Why JavaScript Tooling 'Sucks'](https://www.swyx.io/writing/js-tooling) — _“JavaScript tooling is just too hard to use, and it’s not your fault,”_ says Shawn. JavaScript’s history, ownership, and target use cases have all had a role to play. Shawn Wang [![\](https://copm.s3.amazonaws.com/abe6e438.jpg)](https://rollbar.com/free-trial/?utm_source=cooperpress&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=javascript_weekly) [Instantly Know When JavaScript Errors Occur & How to Fix Them](https://rollbar.com/free-trial/?utm_source=cooperpress&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=javascript_weekly) — With JavaScript error tracking from Rollbar you get exception & crash reports in real-time. Track & debug bugs in record time. Start monitoring & fixing errors in minutes - Try Rollbar for free. Rollbar sponsor [V8 Adding Support for Top Level `await`](https://chromium.googlesource.com/v8/v8.git/+/0ceee9ad28c21bc4971fb237cf87eb742fc787b8%5E%21/) — This is only a link to a git commit but basically support for top level `await` is being added to V8. Node's REPL already supports this via the `--experimental-repl-await` option, but this should make it mainstream. V8 Repo [A Look at V8 v7.8](https://v8.dev/blog/v8-release-78) — Every six weeks we’re treated to a look at the newest release of the V8 JavaScript engine. v7.8 continues to improve performance (such as with faster object destructuring) and has some improvements for WebAssembly users too (there’s now a way to use V8 solely as a WebAssembly execution engine from C/C++). Ingvar Stepanyan [Node 12.11 Released: Worker Threads Go Stable](https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/v12.11.0/) — The underlying V8 engine has been updated to [version 7.7](https://v8.dev/blog/v8-release-77) which results in some performance improvements and locale-aware support for number formatting with `Intl.NumberFormat`. [Worker threads](https://nodejs.org/api/worker_threads.html) are now considered stable, too, which opens up a lot of new opportunities. Node.js Foundation **Quick bytes:** - The new executive director of the OpenJS Foundation [is Robin Ginn](https://openjsf.org/blog/2019/09/25/press-release-openjs-foundation-names-robin-ginn-as-executive-director/), formerly an exec at Microsoft responsible for MS's engagement with the Node project. - The [CEO of npm, Inc.](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/npm-inc-announces-leadership-change-300922517.html?tc=eml_cleartime) has resigned and they're now looking for a new one. - Gatsby is now the richest JavaScript site generator in town as it [has raised $15m in funding.](https://www.gatsbyjs.org/blog/2019-09-26-announcing-gatsby-15m-series-a-funding-round/) - Out of nowhere, an [entertaining review](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/25/verity_stob/) of Douglas Crockford's 2018 _How JavaScript Works_ book. 💻 Jobs [Can You Help Our Client Migrate to Node.js? Docklands, (London, UK)](https://job.careersjs.com/lgc) — Do you have experience and strong opinions on Node best practices? Come and share your advice with an engaged, friendly team of excellent software engineers. CareersJS [Engineering Manager - Boston, MA](https://www.upstatement.com/jobs/engineering-manager.html) — Upstatement seeks a maker/manager to help build [impactful digital products](https://www.upstatement.com/services/) for [clients we believe in](https://www.upstatement.com/work/) as a part of a [passionate team](https://www.upstatement.com/studio/). Upstatement [Find a JavaScript job through Vettery](https://www.vettery.com/tech?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=cooper-javascriptweekly&utm_term=tech&utm_content=grouped&utm_campaign=ad-77584) — Vettery specializes in tech roles and is completely free for job seekers. Create a profile to get started. Vettery 📘 Articles & Tutorials [How JavaScript Works: How V8 Optimizes for Efficiency](https://blog.logrocket.com/how-javascript-works-optimizing-the-v8-compiler-for-efficiency/) — An explanation of how the V8 JavaScript engine (as used in Chrome and Node) makes your code run as fast as possible, followed up with a few tips on improving your code to help V8 out. Alvin Wan ▶[15 Year Old JavaScript: Decoding Dreamweaver's `MM_swapImage()`](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieya8nqjcM) — This is truly a blast from the past! _Back in the day_, the popular Dreamweaver Web design tool could create image rollovers for you (before CSS had `:hover`) and it used JavaScript to do so. But what did this ancient JavaScript look like? Wes Bos [On Demand: Getting Started with NodeSource and AWS Lambda](https://pages.nodesource.com/getting-started-with-nodesource-and-AWS-lambda-0814-nw.html) — Monitor the performance and optimize the efficiency of your serverless functions running on AWS Lambda. NodeSource sponsor [15 Must-Have, Productivity-Enhancing Vue.js Directives](https://www.telerik.com/blogs/15-must-have-vue-directives-that-will-significantly-maximize-your-productivity) — A reasonable list, covering things like `v-hotkey`, `v-lazy`, `v-tooltip` and `v-focus`. Nada Rifki [A Few Handy Vue.js Tricks](https://itnext.io/a-few-handy-vue-js-tricks-832703cff426) InfectoOne [Why Your Angular App Is Not Working: 7 Common Mistakes](https://dev.to/valeriopisapia/why-your-angular-app-is-not-working-7-common-mistakes-2ba1) Valerio Pisapia [Accessibility for Web Developers. Get the Whitepaper](https://www.telerik.com/campaigns/kendo-ui/wp-accessibility?utm_medium=cpm&utm_source=jsweekly&utm_campaign=kendo-ui-general-whitepaper-accessibility&utm_content=brieflink) Progress Kendo UI sponsor [Let's Write a Basic 'Brainf--k' Interpreter](https://www.jsmonday.dev/articles/37/let-s-write-a-brainfuck-compiler) — It’s not a compiler, as it says, but if you’re a beginner new to the ideas around interpreting a programming language yourself, you might enjoy this casual introduction. Michele Riva [A TypeScript Tutorial for Beginners: The Missing Guide](https://www.valentinog.com/blog/typescript/) — Very much a beginner level introduction, but may be useful if you’ve not yet jumped on the TS train. Valentino Gagliardi 🔧 Code & Tools [gpu.js 2.0: GPU Accelerated JavaScript](https://gpu.rocks/) — Compiles JavaScript into shader language which can then be compiled and run on GPUs for significantly boosted performance in specific use cases (neural networks, raytracing..) gpu.js Team [OGL: A Minimal WebGL Framework](https://github.com/oframe/ogl) — WebGL is _not_ the easiest technology to use on its own, so libraries like [Three.js](https://threejs.org/) are often used to make its functionality more accessible. This is a lighter weight attempt to keep you close to the metal without cutting your hands. Nathan Gordon et al. [Wallaby.js Can Increase Your Coding Productivity by More Than 10%](https://wallabyjs.com/?utm_source=javascriptweekly&utm_medium=sponsored_newsletter&utm_campaign=javascriptweekly&utm_content=javascriptweekly) — Wallaby catches errors in your tests and code and displays them right in your editor as you type, making your development feedback loop more productive. Wallaby.js sponsor [Repeater.js: The Missing Constructor for Creating Safe Async Iterators](https://repeater.js.org/) — Inspired by both Clojure and Go. Brian Kim [Robot: A 1.3KB Library for Creating Finite State Machines](https://thisrobot.life/) Matthew Phillips [PixelMatch 5.1: A Fast Pixel-Level Image Comparison Library](https://github.com/mapbox/pixelmatch) — Give it two images, it’ll highlight the differences. Mapbox [Emulating a 4-Bit Virtual Machine using TypeScript's Type System](https://gist.github.com/acutmore/9d2ce837f019608f26ff54e0b1c23d6e) — A clever little hack, though there’s no shame in not understanding how it works at first. Ashley Claymore ⚡️ Quick Releases - [Ember 3.13](https://blog.emberjs.com/2019/09/25/ember-3-13-released.html) — A preview of Octane. - [Yarn 1.18.0](https://github.com/yarnpkg/yarn) — The package manager that isn't `npm`. - [React Router 5.1](https://reacttraining.com/react-router/) — Composable navigation for React apps. - [date-fns 2.3](https://github.com/date-fns/date-fns/releases/tag/v2.3.0) — lodash for dates. 🇸🇮 Slovenian devs will love this release. - [Ink 2.4](https://github.com/vadimdemedes/ink) — React but for building CLIs. - [TUI Chart 3.8](https://github.com/nhn/tui.chart) — Charting and data visualization library. - [React Toastify 5.4](https://github.com/fkhadra/react-toastify) — Pop-over notifications in React apps. Curated by [Cooperpress](https://cooperpress.com/) and [Peter Cooper](https://twitter.com/peterc). 'JavaScript' is a trademark of Oracle Corporation in the US We are not endorsed by or affiliated with Oracle. 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