JavaScript applications use and rely on a lot of third-party code, including modules, packages, libraries, and in some cases even user-provided code for extensions and plug-ins. Too often, applications are fully vulnerable to these code dependencies, so not only do their current security vulnerabilities impact the applications, so do future…

An engineering shortcut for some blockchains — Blockchains that run general programs use gas to abort runaway computations, and to charge for costs of execution. When the only requirement is to abort runaways, the pack of watchdogs mechanism proposed here can serve that purpose with less effort. Background Blockchain computations consume “gas”, decrementing a remaining gas budget until…

Why Large Languages Explode — Adapted from a 2015 es-discuss thread. “Common Lisp” is not the topic. It serves only as one of many illustrative counter-examples. I have been on the JavaScript standards committee (TC39) since 2007. On TC39, we appreciate the value of language simplicity. But over time, we have lost our vigilance against…