This is a big release. Async/await in stable core is something I've been (literally) waiting 6 years for.
Many people have criticized Node's cooperative multithreading model, with both good and uninformed reasons. Yet, it is without dispute that the model is popular.
Async/await is a giant leap forward toward making Node usable for beginner and expert alike. This release is a celebration.
For those of you with existing applications looking to migrate, try `--turbo --ignition` to emulate (most) of the V8 5.9 pipeline. Anecdotally, microbenchmark-style code regresses slightly, real-world code improves by as much as 2x. Exciting times.
Well, the optimizing pipeline has completely changed in V8 5.8 (if you use `--turbo --ignition`) and in 5.9+. It's been simplified and most importantly, does not deoptimize on quite so many common features (such as try/catch). More information at http://benediktmeurer.de/2017/03/01/v8-behind-the-scenes-feb... and some of his other articles.
In my testing it appears that TurboFan cannot optimize certain patterns as well as Crankshaft did, but there's no reason to believe those regressions will remain as TF evolves. Optimizing more code is much more important for real apps.
Many people have criticized Node's cooperative multithreading model, with both good and uninformed reasons. Yet, it is without dispute that the model is popular.
Async/await is a giant leap forward toward making Node usable for beginner and expert alike. This release is a celebration.
For those of you with existing applications looking to migrate, try `--turbo --ignition` to emulate (most) of the V8 5.9 pipeline. Anecdotally, microbenchmark-style code regresses slightly, real-world code improves by as much as 2x. Exciting times.