Chrome doesn’t get Dart but does get pointer events

Google has decided not to implement its javascript alternative Dart in Chrome. Instead, Dart code has to be converted to javascript, as it already is. Google does want to support Microsoft’s pointer events API.

Google released its javascript alternative Dart in 2011, and for a long time the company seemed to be planning to implement Dart in Chrome to rival javascript as the most popular web scripting language. However, Google has now decided not to include the language in Chrome. In its own words, the internet company has decided to do so because it is best “for our users and for the web, and not just for Google Chrome”.

Users of the Dart language will therefore have to continue to convert code to javascript in order to run it within a web browser. Dart is open source and, according to Google, is easier to learn than javascript. While the language can be used for clients, it can also be used to program server software, much like javascript via node.js.

At the same time, Google has decided to implement Microsoft’s Pointer Events API in Chrome. The pointer events API is currently only available in the IE10 browser found in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Via the technology, user input can be handled in a browser that comes from the mouse, a touchscreen or the keyboard. In addition, a high degree of abstraction would allow the api to handle future input methods. Firefox has also indicated that it is working on support for the pointer events api.