Translating JavaScript to Dart

Marcin

Aaron

By Aaron Wheeler, Senior User Experience Prototyper, and Marcin Wichary, Senior User Experience Designer

Cross-posted with the Chromium Blog

It took approximately 2000 years for the original Rosetta Stone to be discovered, which helped translate the Egyptian Hieroglyphs. We couldn’t wait that long to bridge the Dart and JavaScript worlds, so today we are releasing the JavaScript to Dart Synonym app.

Like most web developers, we are familiar, comfortable, and productive with JavaScript. We were curious about Dart, and thanks to a recent Dart hackathon, we had the chance to play with the language and libraries. The problem was, as JavaScript developers, we didn’t know how to map common JavaScript idioms to Dart. Hence the idea for this synonym app was born.

We started with the basics that every JavaScript and jQuery developer knows: variables, arrays, functions, classes, DOM manipulation, and many more. Then, with the help of the Dart team, we recorded the corresponding Dart versions of each idiom. To practice what we learned, we wrote this app with Dart.

We hope our app that maps between JavaScript and Dart eases your introduction to Dart and gives you a sense of where the project is going. We know the team is eager to hear your feedback. Don’t hesitate to join the conversation or file a new issue for either Dart or the Synonym app. And remember, Dart isn’t set in stone, so your feedback counts.


Aaron Wheeler is a user experience prototyper working on special projects that go beyond the Web. He balances design and engineering outside of work as well, splitting time between artistic pursuits and bicycle maintenance.

Marcin Wichary is a user experience designer, currently working on the Chrome browser and thinking of the future of the Web platform. He also occasionally codes interactive homepage doodles, such as Pac-Man and Stanislaw Lem.

Posted by Scott Knaster, Editor