Cross-compiling C++ to JavaScript

Schedule

18:30 - Doors open, registration
19:00 - Presentation by Levente Hunyadi
20:00 - Follow-up discussions with snacks
21:00 - Event ends, doors close

Talk Abstract

LogMeIn's join.me is a conference and collaboration tool with a front-end interface available in several platforms including Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and since not long ago HTML5. Despite such a wide range of target platforms, most code is written in cross-platform C++ to speed up development. However, browsers run JavaScript, not C++, yet we did not want to write much code specifically for this platform. This talk presents some of the challenges we faced when migrating a large existing code base in C++ to the web browser, how emscripten and embind helped us re-use our existing code, and how the idioms and patterns characteristic to C++ translated to JavaScript.

About the Presenter

Levente Hunyadi is a software engineer specializing in cross-platform solutions. His interests include multi-paradigm languages, distributed systems and automated software engineering. Previously, he worked for telecommunication companies Nokia and Ericsson, and is now affiliated with LogMeIn. He has a PhD in Computer Science from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.