BRbrett40324·Jul 30, 2016
Higgs is a JavaScript JIT compiler written in D.
https://github.com/higgsjs/Higgs
In Ask HN: What are you using D (language) for?higgsjs
Higgs
JavaScript2013–2016
higgsjs / Higgs
Higgs
Higgs JavaScript Virtual Machine
7Distinct people
8Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
884GitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Higgs JavaScript Virtual Machine
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use has been verified yet.
What people are saying
I may be biased, but this was one of my favorite talks at DConf :3. You can find the source to higgs on GH: https://github.com/maximecb/Higgs More info is on Maxime's blog:…
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This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.
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Mentions over time
HN mentions by year8 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2013-06-08 23:54:16 UTC to 2016-07-30 20:54:59 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
8 sourcesGreat job.
Do you know this interpreter ? (in D)
https://github.com/higgsjs/Higgs
It's one of the most advanced I found (outside browsers).
If you want to get rid of the "switch/case", you can look at threaded code interpreters.
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/forth/threaded-code.html
You can find useful ressources in Forth about it.
I write a stack-based language in javascript. Each statement is a closure around the arguments of the expression stored in a flat array. The instruction pointer is an index in that array. It is partially compiled.
I also use function object constructor for a kind of FFI.
There is also good potential with asm.js to reach near-native performances.
In MetaES – JavaScript in JavaScript interpreterI agree. It's not as hard as one might think. I implemented my own handwritten JS parser using TDOP:
https://github.com/higgsjs/Higgs/blob/master/source/parser/p...
I think it's more flexible and maintainable this way. I didn't have to wrestle with odd grammar rules. Implementing the JS "automatic semicolon insertion" with parser generator tools seems like it would have been a cluster headache.
In Make Your Own Programming LanguageHiggs JavaScript Virtual Machine
160 points · Open discussionI may be biased, but this was one of my favorite talks at DConf :3.
You can find the source to higgs on GH: https://github.com/maximecb/Higgs
More info is on Maxime's blog: http://pointersgonewild.wordpress.com/
And our subreddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/higgsjs/
You can also stop by and say hello in #higgsjs on freenode.
We're looking for contributors of all skill levels if anyone is interested!
In Refactoring JIT Compilation [video]Higgs is looking for contributors.
Higgs is a JIT compiler for JavaScript targeting x86-64 platforms. The core is written in D, but most of the runtime/libs are written in JS.
You can contribute by testing, suggesting features, submitting PRs with new libraries (graphics, sqlite, etc), more tests, bug-fixes, documentation, and more.
We're very welcoming and will assist anyone wanting to contribute. Come hang out with us in #higgsjs on freenode (heck, come hang out even if you don't want to contribute) or check out the issues on Github:
https://github.com/maximecb/Higgs
In Ask HN: Looking for contributors?If anyone wants to delve more into the workings of a JS VM, I've found the code of Higgs (https://github.com/maximecb/Higgs) to be very straightforward and readable. The interpreter and JIT are written in D and much of the run-time is written in JS. It's a successor to the Tachyon project mentioned in that post.
In How JavaScript compilers workNice. Interested readers may also want to check out Higgs: https://github.com/maximecb/Higgs
In How JavaScript compilers work