Why is the source code of JavaScript apps transmitted to the browser where:
- It is much larger than an equivalent executable p-code, which increases the delivery time, and requires the browser to compile the code before interpreting it.
- It exposes proprietary information of the authors
- It is useless to anyone except the developers. End users cannot use it for debugging.
The industry has standardized on many capabilities. Why could it not standardize on a common virtual machine representation which could be either interpreted or run through a JIT compiler. We do not transmit Java, or C#, or WASM source to the browser, so why is JavaScript different? What is the advantage to the Industry of continuing to transmit source as if it was still 1995? Note that I wrote my first web site in 1992, including server code using the CGI interface on the original NCSC HTTPD.
