Apache.org is down

A very rare event. The reason is unknown. Just for the record I took the screenshot of the page.

The reason for the issue is unknown at the moment.

Technorati Tags: apache

Dromaeo - Mozilla JavaScript Performance Test Suite

The other day I was expecting a JavaScript benchmark suite from Mozilla & Microsoft. Recently, Mozilla has released a performance test suite which they made available at dromaeo.com. Click on the links below to see the exact performance results of each browser.

• Mozilla FireFox 3.0.1 - 10229.40 ms
• Google Chrome 0.2.149.29 - 8277.0 ms
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 - What did you say? IE? Sorry it was a non-starter. I think it got scared away by seeing this benchmark suite. It just completed only one of the tests and never completed the other ones. It just hangs. Better luck next time Microsoft. :(

Here also Chrome blasted almost all the benchmark tests, though it took more time in "DOM Modification" test than FireFox.

Well, Mozilla & Google has come up with their own test suites. It is now the turn of Microsoft to give their own. I don't think they will do. Any benchmark suite should be open for public scrutiny. I bet they will hire some third party to test and come up with a white paper saying that IE 8 is faster under some fancy test conditions.

I believe, in future Google will come up with more innovative web applications which requires faster JavaScript performance. This will improve the adoption rate of Chrome & Firefox.

Links:- John Resig - Dromaeo: JavaScript Performance Testing

Technorati Tags: google, chrome, firefox, mozilla, microsoft, internet explorer, javascript, performance, benchmark, test, suite, dromaeo, browser

V8 & Sunspider - Java Script Benchmark tests

Today I ran the Java Script benchmark tests available from V8 Benchmark Suite - version 1 and SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark

I ran the tests in DELL my laptop which has Intel Core 2 Duo 7200 processor, 1 GB RAM, Windows Vista Business SP1. When I ran the V8 benchmark suite I got the following score. Higher scores means better performance.

• Google Chrome v0.2.149.27 = 1648
• FireFox v3.0.1 = 120
• Internet Explorer v7.0 = 30

On running SunSpider Javascript Benchmark, I got the following score(in milliseconds). The results shows how quickly the tests were completed by each browser.

• Google Chrome v0.2.149.27 = 1749.2 ms 
• FireFox v3.0.1 = 12623 ms
• Internet Explorer v7.0 = 30330 ms

Click on the above browser links to see the actual test results. The results page also provides a way to compare the test results from other browser.

From the test comparison, it is sure GC's performance has blown away the browsers. GC is 7.4 times faster than FF and 17.3 times faster than IE.

Let  us see what is in store for FF 3.1 and IE 8. I would also like to see benchmark test suites from Mozilla and Microsoft. The above two test suites are all relate to Google Chrome. One is hosted through Google chrome V8 project and other through Webkit site.

Technorati Tags: javascript,java,script,benchmark,test,result,v8,sunspider,google,browser,chrome,firefox,internet explorer,suite

Google Chrome - Installer error solved

Recently I posted an error which I got while installing Google Chrome in my office workstation. In that I assumed that the setup is trying to download an executable which is the actual Chrome installer. My assumption is right. Here is how I concluded my assumption. I opened the Fiddler2, which is an excellent HTTP tracking tool. Then I ran the initial small Chrome Setup. I saw the installer is trying to download a file from http://cache.pack.google.com/chrome/install/149.27/chrome_installer.exe

I am using Windows XP Professional with SP2. I am assuming the above URL has nothing specific to the OS edition. I think the string "149.27" in the URL could be the browser's minor version number. The Chrome version which I installed is "0.2.149.27".

Disclaimer: I don't know what harm will happen if you use the file from the above URL.

Technorati tags: google, chrome, browser, open source

Google Chrome - Installer error

I somehow downloaded the Google Chrome installer into my office workstation. When I tried installing, I got the following error message.

"Installer download failed. Error code = 0x8000421f4"

I believe, this is due to the Firewall at our office. I think the Chrome is trying to download some executables and the Firewall is blocking that. I don't know why Google is not providing the complete setup. Someone can try creating a complete setup through the source code available at Chromium. It will be of immense help if someone does that.

UPDATE: This issue is resolved.

Technorati tags: open source, chrome, google, browser

Google Chrome is out

Google Chrome is out. The first screen shots will arrive shortly in this blog.

Technorati Tags: google,chrome,open source,browser

Firefox 3.0.1 Welcome Page

Today I updated my Firefox 3.0 to 3.0.1. When I restarted the browser I got this page. Look at the error in the page. It says I am using Firefox 2.0.0.11. Funny isn't it?

For verification I went to the Firefox 3.0 welcome page. It shows correctly.

Technorati tags: firefox, mozilla

Google Developer day - Google Gears

Here is a presentation given by a Google engineer Aaron Boodman on Google Gears at the recent Google Developer Day conference. The Google Gears already started making waves across Internet.

What is Google Gears?

Google Gears (BETA) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using following JavaScript APIs:

• Store and serve application resources locally
• Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database
• Run asynchronous JavaScript to improve application responsiveness

To know more,

1. First goto Gears site. The site will identify whether your browser has the extension already installed and suggest you to install. Since the tool is early stages of development, I warn non-developers not to try immediately now. Though the tool looks very promising wait for sometime till the final version arrives.
2. For (web) developers, this one is a very promising tool for the future. Go and try. Already you have sample implementation available with Google Reader. If you already using Google Reader, try the offline/online feature available there after installing Gears.
3. It seems IE 6.0/Firefox 1.5+ for windows and Linux is supported out of the box. After installing flush the browser cache and restart both browsers if it is running.
4. Get the documentation from here.
5. If you want give feedback and suggest some more features go and post it in the Google Gears Forum.

Technorati tags: google, gears, opensource, web2.0, development, youtube, firefox, ie