Brad Nelson

Thanks to its featureful, portable, and modern codebase, Clang/LLVM is rapidly becoming the toolchain of choice for developers worldwide. Recently, its portability has allowed Clang/LLVM to be ported to run inside the Chrome web browser, by way of another LLVM derived technology called Portable Native Client. Working in tandem with several other browser based development tools, the path has been opened to full in-browser software development. This talk explores the unique challenges of porting Clang/LLVM to the browser.

Native Client (NaCl) is an open-source technology that allows native machine code to run securely sandboxed in the browser. Two layers of sandboxing, a static verification inner sandbox combined with Chrome’s outer process sandbox, ensure users can safely run untrusted applications. Portable Native Client builds on this foundation by providing a portable LLVM IR derived wire format which is seamlessly compiled and run on the fly. Support for venerable, cornerstone POSIX APIs—files, processes, sockets, terminal I/O— is then built on top of an I/O layer called PPAPI with security limitations that mirror the constraints of Javascript.

Come learn about: porting Clang/LLVM to Native Client, bridging the gap between POSIX and the Web, measuring performance, and connecting Clang/LLVM with other FOSS tools in our in-browser development environment, including editors, interpreters, and build tools. Watch a demonstration of in-browser C/C++ development to discover how the Web can dramatically increase the reach and impact of the LLVM project by frictionlessly putting its tools in the hands of developers and users everywhere.

Until recently, Free and Open Source Software designed for the Desktop, particularly development tools, has been unavailable on the Web. Now, using a technology called Native Client, some 240+ packages including editors, compilers, interpreters, and utilities can be made available in the Chrome web browser, online or offline, without sacrificing portability or security. Come learn how the the Desktop of the future will meld the security and flexibility of the Web with the performance and rich application set of today’s Desktop.

Native Client (NaCl), is an open-source technology that allows native machine code to run securely sandboxed in the browser, with privileges mirroring Javascript. Two layers of sandboxing, a static verification inner sandbox combined with Chrome’s outer process sandbox, ensure users can safely run applications they may not trust. Modified GCC and LLVM based toolchains allow applications to target NaCl using the PPAPI I/O interface.

This talk will explore key challenges including: packaging, testing, emulating process management using a JavaScript “microkernel”, and building POSIX support—pthreads, files, processes, sockets, terminal I/O—on top of Web-centric APIs.

See a full-featured development environment comprised of FOSS applications including editors (Vim, Emacs, Nano), scripting languages (Python, Lua, Ruby, Tcl/Tk, Bash), utilities (tar, zip, curl, grep), version control (git, svn), compilers (GCC, Clang/LLVM), GDB, GNUMake, window managers, and an X11 server, all running in concert, sandboxed in the browser. Discover how the Desktop can now become one with the Web and help put Free and Open Source Software in the hands of developers and users everywhere.

The clever minimalism and flexibility of the X-Windows system has allowed it to be ported to a diverse range of platforms. Recently, that flexibility has allowed the X.org server, client libraries, several window managers, and a range of applications to be ported to run stand-alone inside the Chrome web browser using a technology called Native Client. This talk explores the unique challenges of porting X11 to Native Client and the browser.

Native Client (NaCl), is an open-source technology that allows native machine code to run securely sandboxed in the browser. Two layers of sandboxing, a static verification inner sandbox combined with Chrome’s outer process sandbox, ensure users can safely run untrusted applications. Modified GCC and LLVM based toolchains allow applications to target NaCl. An I/O API called PPAPI, mirroring the security constraints of Javascript, is provided to NaCl applications.

This talk will discuss the central porting challenges including: emulation of POSIX APIs—processes, sockets, files—on top of Web-centric APIs, packaging, and protocol transport. I’ll demonstrate several X11 applications running the browser, including Emacs, Tcl/Tk, and Xeyes! We’ll look at how X11 applications can interoperate with our in-browser development environment and discuss how you can use this technology to bring your X11 application to the Web.

Check out our ports collection at: https://code.google.com/p/naclports/wiki/PortList

Learn more about Native Client: https://developer.chrome.com/native-client/overview